Find out how to contribute to digital sustainability. Reduce the environmental impact of websites with eco-friendly practices and strategies. Read more!

"I prefer the digital version because it is more sustainable"-no, this is not always the case.

Reading this article on how to create a sustainable website also involves an environmental impact given by: the energy consumption of the website, the data center that hosts the data, as well as the usage of the reading user.

So the digital version is bad and ugly and we have to "turn off the Internet and all data centers"?  

No! Let's avoid alarmism; we don't have to turn off the Internet completely. On the contrary, we can address the situation data in hand to find solutions to reduce the environmental impact of websites by adopting sustainable strategies and practices. Read on to discover some tips that may be helpful to you in developing your next sustainable website by being more mindful of environmental impact!

Index

1. Developing a sustainable website: a possible challenge?
2. Small steps to becoming great "sustainable developers"
   1. Mobile First, the future of sustainable websites?
   2. Less is More: Writing efficient code to reduce environmental impact
   3. Web design & sustainability: giving content the right weight
   4. Web sites colorful but not too much
3. Thinking about sustainable data center systems
4. Digital sustainability: the role of the end user in abating emissions
   1. The end user and the choice of device
   2. Even streaming has its ecological footprint
5. Conclusion

Developing a sustainable website: a possible challenge?

Let us first give a perimeter; technology now covers every detail of our lives, and too general an analysis would only lead to confusion. Let us focus, then, on one part of it: the Internet and, in particular, websites. We will examine together how programmers, system designers and end users can actively act to create sustainable websites.

We are always connected, always ready to access Google from our smartphone, PC or other technological devilry. We access the website of the bank, the newspaper, and have everything at the click of a button: increasingly every aspect of our lives has a digital counterpart.

 According to the London-based companyWholegrain Digital, if the Internet were a nation it would be sixth in electricity consumption, beating out the United Kingdom (and not just England), with consumption of 416.2TWh per year, which is equivalent to 3.8 percent of total carbon emissions. 

Also according to the same source, a single web page viewed produces about 1.75 grams of CO2 (carbon dioxide or carbon dioxide). While this may not seem like much, multiplied by the number of pages viewed around the world every second, the figures grow exponentially.

So how can we reduce the environmental impact and limit the energy consumption of websites, thereby reducing CO2 emissions?

Let's first adopt a sustainable web development strategy. Let's see together what practitioners can do! 

Small steps to becoming great "sustainable developers"

They are those mythological figures who transform requirements into something digital. Web sites and the technology that enables us to enjoy them do not exist in nature: programmers are the architects of it all.

Energy consumption is inherently part of a developer's job, having a PC as a main tool and working in the technology field. But this does not mean we should be any less careful about our impact; on the contrary, we can always pay attention to what we do and look for innovative solutions.

First of all, to create a sustainable website we start by defining a maximum weight limit that the page can reach, remember to cut out the superfluous. Online we can use tools that help us measure the impact of the website we develop, find out the impact of your site now. While, following are somestrategies for developing sustainable websites.

Mobile First, the future of sustainable websites?

This strategy puts the smartphone (which was not mentioned at random earlier) at the center. 

Internet use is increasingly from smartphones and less from PCs, desktops or laptops as revealed by the 2023 global trends from WeAreSocial. Therefore, we can take advantage of this trend and define our strategies from here. 

Benefits mobile first approach

To optimize the mobile experience, it is important to make the interface intuitive, fast, and free of unnecessary elements that could weigh it down and increase energy consumption. By prioritizing smartphones, which have a smaller screen and less processing capacity, we can design less energy-intensive pages.

Less is More: Writing efficient code to reduce environmental impact

Even the part of the work that involves writing code has impacts on the environment. Clean, reusable code lightens work and pages. Purposeful use of classes, APIs, or functions to avoid repeating pieces of code and cut out redundant and unnecessary parts saves time and emissions.

In the initial phase, the Programmer and Functional Analyst can organize a code reuse plan, adding in documentation reference to the parts that can be reused and where they can be inserted.

On the other hand, in case the project is not well mapped out, or you are working in Agile mode, it is good to keep in mind that in the future it will be convenient to carve out a moment to clean up the code.  

If we talk about writing code, we cannot fail to mention programming languages, frameworks and libraries, such as Angular and React if you program in JavaScript.

Web design & sustainability: giving content the right weight

Very heavy images or those with special effects can weigh down a website considerably, slowing down its loading and increasing resource consumption. This is why the format we choose for our files is also important!

Today you can replace the classic image formats, PNG and JPG, with the lighter WebP. The WebP file was developed by Google and offers advanced compression without significantly compromising the visual quality of the image through compression algorithms.

Don't know how to get a WebP file? You can rely on online services such as Cloudconvert o Convertio, from which you can also select images directly from DropBox. 

Another action to take could be Lazy Loading, i.e., images are not loaded as they land on the web page but only if necessary, e.g., those at the bottom of the page are loaded only if the user scrolls down to the section containing it. 

Another major issue, a child of Instagram and TikTok reels, is the presence of videos on sites. Very often unnecessary and at a much higher resolution than a screen can support. Does it make sense to see a 4K video on a smartphone on a screen that is only a few inches and much lower resolution?

Again, it is advisable to insert videos only when necessary, optimizing their resolution and avoiding autoplay.

Web sites colorful but not too much

When designing a sustainable website, it is critical to consider the energy impact of color choices. Some colors require more energy to display than others. For example, white and yellow are among the most energy-consuming colors, while black and dark tones have little energy impact .

An effective strategy, to reduce color energy consumption on the Web, is to use mainly dark colors for the background of the site to reduce the amount of energy required to light the screen.

Sustainable website: thinking about sustainable data center systems 

Systems engineers are responsible for managing Data Centers (DCs), which are the physical facilities where data, applications, physical components, and software useful for service continuity and digital products are stored .

Data centers operate in closed environments and require constant power to process large amounts of data. Because of the intense work involved, Data Centers tend to overheat and therefore require cooling systems such as air conditioners and fans. This component of Data Centers contributes to 1 percent of the world's energy consumption.

Restatement.

Source : www.climateimpact.com

Here are two options, plus a bonus, to reduce the environmental impact of data centers and mitigate the impact of your website by making it more sustainable.

• Data Center Sharing. Sharing Data Centers among multiple entities cuts costs, land consumption, and allows for better management of machines. There are a plethora of DC operators that rent their space to other companies to group as many as possible in one space, even going so far as to share racks (the cabinets in which routers, switches, etc., sort of like Billy for 'ste devilry').
• Choose sustainable hosting. Often, data centers are managed by outside companies. Some of them, for example Deep Green, have a sustainable footprint and are committed to lowering CO2 emissions. Even Microsoft with the Natick project has sunk some Data Centers to the bottom of the sea, exploiting it to keep them cool by drastically lowering energy dependence.

Can we do anything else? For, example,what do we do with all the heat produced by data centers and cooling systems? Maybe with a little inventiveness we can use it to indulge in our own little luxury!

In Devon, England, startup Deep Green has provided an interesting solution to the question, "Let's use it to heat swimming pools!" So to lower the temperature they are placing Data Centers under swimming pools, to which they transfer heat to a pool, receiving cooling from it, lowering the costs of the former and saving, to a hypothetical 25-meter pool,the about 7900 euros/month (source Swim England).

Digital sustainability: the role of the end user in abating emissions

That's right, that's right you! our impact is variable, it changes based on our habits, the tools we have and how we use them but what can the end user (yes, you again) do to lower emissions? 

"Who has two thumbs and is the end user?"

Kelso from the TV series Scrubs

Read on to find out some actions the end user can take to lower emissions.

The end user and the choice of device

Device choice has a significant impact on the energy consumed. Opting for more energy-efficient devices can reduce energy consumption and related emissions.

When it comes to quick searches and tasks, a smartphone is a recommended choice over a traditional PC or laptop. Preferring websites optimized for smartphones can help further reduce power consumption while browsing.

In addition, it is advisable to avoid opening and using multiple tabs or apps at the same time. Therefore, it is advisable to use multitasking wisely, and closing apps not in use can help optimize the energy efficiency of the smartphone.

Finally, it is advisable to prefer the new OLED screens, which, unlike backlit models, consume less power while maintaining image quality.

Even streaming has its ecological footprint

Bless the accessible music and movies always at your fingertips! However, it is important to be aware that streaming content also impacts energy consumption and take some steps to mitigate its use.

Internet traffic

Source : www.climateimpact.com

• First, avoiding auto-play can make a difference. By disabling this option, you prevent videos or songs from automatically starting unnecessarily. This simple act can help reduce the power consumption associated with streaming.
• Another option to consider is using music-only services when you do not need to view video. For example, if you are walking around with headphones in your ears, it is not essential for images to scroll across the screen.
• In addition, it is important to check the streaming quality. If your Internet connection is stable and reliable, you can reduce the video resolution or audio quality. This not only reduces data consumption, but also the power consumption associated with streaming high-definition content.

By slightly changing our habits, it is possible to enjoy the convenience of streaming while reducing the environmental impact.

Conclusion

Technology can reduce human impact on the environment by limiting the consumption of resources and land, by better managing the energy used (just think of smart light bulbs that turn themselves off if the room is lit and if they do not sense anyone's presence), but to do this you need to know how to manage it best, have clear plans and great foresight.   

So is digital greener? That is for us to decide. Technology should be used consciously and if used well it can also help us save money, cut down CO2 emissions and have a heated swimming pool. We must always keep in mind that the whole IT world has a huge fabisogno energy and a controlled decrease would not impact our experience but would improve the quality of life for all.