The Impact of Hosting on Your Carbon Footprint

As purpose-driven organizations, we strive to make a positive impact on the world, and considering the environmental implications of our operations has become second nature to most of us. But often, our focus on our supply chain, packaging, and recycling can make us forget about the very real impact of our digital presence.

In the first post of this series, I talked about the cloud and how that fluffy image of cotton candy floating in the sky, is covering up for the reality of thirsty and power-hungry data centers that jeopardize the ecosystems in which they are built with their water and energy consumption and carbon emissions. But maybe the connection between those data centers in remote locations and our digital presence isn’t very clear. Today we talk about what this means for us.

Understanding the Connection: Hosting and Data Centers

What even is hosting?

After spending many years building websites for small businesses I’ve come to realize that words like hosting, domain and server get thrown around, and at the end of the day, a lot of people can’t exactly tell one from the other.

I love using this metaphor in which your website is like your house, with your domain being your address, and your hosting being the plot of land your house is built on. This metaphor goes on and on to include architects and decorators but I will spare you my ramblings for now, and get to the topic at hand: hosting.

Websites at their most basic level are just a group of files and folders and, just like the pictures of your cat you keep on your laptop, these files and folders need to be stored in a computer. For your website to be accessible online 24/7, that computer needs to be connected to the internet and running 24/7. That is what is commonly known as a server, because it serves those files to your visitors.

When you pay a company to put your files in their servers, they are providing you with hosting. Hosting providers have large data centers with rows and rows of servers that are online 24/7 serving up your website to all your visitors. When this happens on-demand and without you having one specific server you need to maintain and manage, the service is commonly known as cloud storage or cloud computing.

Data Centers and Cloud Hosting

However, the digital convenience of cloud hosting has a physical presence. Servers are housed in data centers, which require massive amounts of energy to run 24/7 and keep cool. Traditional hosting often overlooks the energy source, leading to a high carbon footprint due to reliance on fossil fuels. As a result, the seemingly invisible process of hosting our website can have a tangible environmental impact, contributing to carbon emissions and climate change.

Our use of cloud hosting platforms allows us to show our websites to our audience whenever they need to access it; however, it’s important to know that the structure and efficiency of our sites can also significantly influence their carbon emissions. A sleek, well-optimized site with clean code requires less computational power from data centers to load, resulting in lower carbon emissions. On the flip side, websites with heavy scripts, high-resolution images, and inefficient coding consume more resources. Each additional second of loading time or unnecessary server request amplifies our digital carbon footprint.

Email hosting may seem light on the environment, considering it is just text and smaller files. However, the scale at which businesses use emails adds up. The Radicati Group estimated that around 347.3 billion emails were sent and received each day in 2023. Each email sent or received contributes to carbon emissions, albeit on a smaller scale than larger applications. When stored, these emails need server space, resulting in energy consumption in data centers. Be it emails, (cat) images, videos, or documents, virtually everything we keep online needs server space. As the culture of digital hoarding grows, so does the demand for data storage. Storing this data requires large data centers that consume significant amounts of energy and water.

All hosting is not created equal

Environmental Consequences of Low-Cost Hosting

The environmental impact of hosting is all equal. Some hosting providers can offer alternatives that are less harmful for the planet and provide a better experience for website visitors. On the other hand, Low-cost hosting, which might seem like an attractive option for budget-conscious organizations, comes with a steep environmental price. These services often operate on a high-volume, low-margin basis, which can mean corners are cut in areas like energy sourcing and efficiency. The cheaper options may rely on data centers powered by fossil fuels rather than investing in renewable energy sources or energy-efficient technologies. This cost-saving measure translates into a higher carbon footprint for every website hosted on such servers. Additionally, low-cost hosting providers may not have the financial incentive or infrastructure to properly recycle or upgrade equipment, leading to more waste and environmental harm. The environmental consequences of these practices are significant and can undermine the sustainability efforts of organizations that are otherwise committed to reducing their impact on the planet.

The good news: There is A Sustainable Alternative

Green hosting is an approach that integrates environmental stewardship right into the heart of digital operations. It’s all about harnessing renewable energy sources like wind or solar power to to run their data centers, thereby reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Beyond just plugging into cleaner power, green hosting embraces the full spectrum of sustainability including

• quite literally, greening the data center landscapes — planting trees, shrubs, and even creating gardens atop these facilities. This greenery acts like a natural cooling system and boosts the local ecosystem.
• Carbon offsetting, used to balance the scales by investing in environmental projects when they can’t cut emissions to zero.
• Energy-efficient practices extend to the cooling systems and server management, further minimizing energy use.

Choosing to host with green hosting providers significantly lowers the carbon emissions associated with our website’s operation and helps us align our digital presence with the values of our brand.

Who to choose? Ask The Green Web Foundation Directory

The Green Web Foundation is a great resource if you are looking for reliable green hosting solutions. It’s not a provider itself, but an organization that maintains a comprehensive database of hosting providers that run on green energy. This valuable resource helps us make informed choices by identifying providers that prioritize sustainability in their operations. The Green Web Foundation vets these services, ensuring they meet strict criteria for energy sourcing and efficiency. By opting for a provider listed with the Green Web Foundation, we can trust that our hosting is not only reducing our organization’s carbon footprint but also supporting the broader movement towards a greener internet.

In the first post of this series, I talked about the cloud and how that fluffy image of cotton candy floating in the sky, is covering up for the reality of thirsty and power-hungry data centers that jeopardize the ecosystems in which they are built with their water and energy consumption and carbon emissions. But maybe the connection between those data centers in remote locations and our digital presence isn’t very clear. Today we talk about what this means for us.