Every single search query, every streamed video and every type of cloud computing, executed billions of times, is responsible for ever-increasing global demand for energy and thus also for increasing CO₂ emissions.
Here are some guidelines on how to take responsibility and direct action toward reducing your digital carbon footprint:
- Regularly clean up your cloud folders and delete useless files, as this ultimately saves energy.
- Store data locally, USB sticks or external hard drives are a good storage alternative.
- Choose a green server host for your cloud storage and web hosting.
- Use WLAN networks instead of mobile networks.
- Clean out your email inbox and empty your junk folder regularly.
- Unsubscribe from newsletters you are not reading.
- Turn off social media notifications.
- Install an ad-blocker.
- Choose a sustainable search engine, for example Ecosia or Gexsi
- Choose a sustainable phone provider, for example WETell
- Try to cut down on downloading (for example if you receive a dropbox or wetransfer file, only 1 person in the office needs to download the file and store on a server)
- Avoid creating electronic waste and recycle of your old gadgets responsibly
Please find a list of green website providers here:
- https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/directory/
- https://www.wholegraindigital.com/blog/choose-a-green-web-host/
You can check the carbon impact of your site using the online
Website Carbon Calculator
Green Energy Website Provider:
- https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/directory/
- https://www.wholegraindigital.com/blog/choose-a-green-web-host/
Sustainable Search Engines:
Useful webpages:
- https://en.reset.org/knowledge/our-digital-carbon-footprint-whats-the-environmental-impact-online-world-12302019
- https://en.reset.org/act/how-reduce-your-digital-carbon-footprint-01012020
- https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200305-why-your-internet-habits-are-not-as-clean-as-you-think
- https://www.climatecare.org/resources/news/infographic-carbon-footprint-internet/
- https://www.myclimate.org/information/faq/faq-detail/what-is-a-digital-carbon-footprint/
- https://www.wholegraindigital.com/blog/website-energy-efficiency/