The world is bold on environmental conservation, urging web hosting companies to reduce their carbon footprints. Organised institutions are some of the biggest environmental polluters and have since taken an active role in conservation. Web hosting service providers have also joined the course and taken significant steps to reduce their carbon footprints. The target is zero net emissions by 2050.

There are several ways web hosting companies can participate in this process. From as simple as planting trees to donating to environmental charities, these efforts go a long way in addressing conservation. However, there are innovative ways to address conservation based on their area of expertise; digital carbon footprints.

Digital carbon footprints are activities done through online activities that contribute to the production of carbon into the environment. A simple email, visiting a website or posting a picture or video on your social media releases carbon into the atmosphere. We will discuss what they are, how they leave carbon footprints in the atmosphere and how to reduce it.

How to Reduce Your Digital Carbon Footprints

• Optimise your website
• Clean out any unused data from your cloud storage
• Reduce online streaming and video calling
• Reduce the number of emails sent and delete old ones.

Optimise Your Website

Optimisation brings efficiency and order, either consuming less energy or completing work faster. Conversions occur more quickly, improving general website performance and faster page loads. In the long run, less energy is used to run the web hosting activity, which reduces the digital carbon footprint. Several tips optimise website performance, among them:

• Image and video compressions – smaller images and videos (in size) will reduce the time the page loads. Experts believe that a picture should not be bigger than 200kb. There are many free tools that can compress images and maintain quality, a good example being IMGonline or Squoosh.
• Consider a green web hosting service provider – electricity from renewable energy is the most preferred for web hosting service providers. Besides significantly reducing the digital carbon footprint, it earns the company the badge of an environmental sustainability champion.
• Delayed audio-visual loading – images and videos can load only after scrolling to that section. It saves the system the energy needed to load the page in its entirety, even when the reader might not get to that section.
• Delete unused content – if your website has a page that has no visits, consider deleting it. The hosting system requires energy to keep it up, whereas there is no conversion. Deleting it reduces the carbon emission used to keep that page on.

Clean Out Any Unused Data from Your Cloud Storage

If you have photos or files you are not using, consider clearing them from the cloud storage. Keeping it requires a lot of energy to power the cloud hosting system. By deleting it, you are creating space within the system and reducing the amount of digital carbon footprints. If your company regularly refer to stored data, consider using a green web hosting service provider.

Reduce Online Streaming and Video Calling

Internet traffic has grown considerably in the last 3 years, thanks to COVID-19. People rely on the internet to get information and keep up with the latest trend. Servers worked overtime to keep up with the pressure, increasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere. We will significantly reduce our digital carbon footprints by reducing the time we spend online, especially on streaming platforms and video calling.

Reduce the Number of Emails Sent and Delete Old Ones

Only send emails where necessary, as storage and maintenance require a lot of energy. It gets worse with email marketing as companies spam inboxes with promotional messages. Send messages and emails when needed, and only if it has a direct conversion.

Also, consider deleting old emails as they are useless in the current dispensation. Storing them requires energy, yet they do not offer any value within the existing framework.