Sustainability

Sustainability on the web

So far, sustainability on the web is hardly an issue in society. In doing so, we all usually access countless websites every day. Even when we sleep, our cell phone continues to work unless we turn it off.

Hardly anyone has in their heads that every single page view consumes CO2. In addition, the websites accessed are getting bigger and bigger. Since 2011, the average website size has grown by 1200%. 2

4%

Aktueller Anteil des Internets an globalen CO2-Emissionen

9%

Wachstum des jährlichen Energiebedarfs durch das Internet


Digital technologies are currently responsible for 3.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 1 This amount is comparable to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by air traffic (3.5%). In the future, the greenhouse gas emissions caused by digital technologies will continue to rise. In 2025, digital technologies will account for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 1 In addition, the energy demand of the internet will grow by 9% annually.

Every single page view produces CO2. In 2020 the Amazon site alone, a site with approx. 4.09 MB, was accessed almost 621 billion times. 1 This corresponds to approx. 1.60 megatons of CO2. 2

The total of all website visits and the size of the websites have a significant impact on CO2 emissions.

Digitization and sustainable development urgently need to be brought together. The merger is necessary to enable a digital, sustainable future.

CarbonWebsiteAnalysis

CO2-Emission

amazon.com

year 2020
1.60 megatons

133.7 million
133.7 million + 1
  • Date: 10 Jul 2021
  • 1Pageviews: Based on 621 billion page views per day (https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=amazon.com).
  • 1CO2: Based on 2.59 g g CO2-emissions per pageview
  • Bytes: 4 MB.
  • Adjusted Bytes for returning visitors: 3 MB.
  • How much CO2 a tree can absorb: 12 - But really a tree absorbs anywhere between 10 and 40kg of CO2 per year on average, depending on a whole host of factors.
  • Block Hosting

The Internet plays an essential role in terms of the sustainability of digital technologies. The average size of a website in 2020 was 2 megabytes. 2 This value increased by 37.0% from 2017 to 2020. Since 2011 even by 1200%.

Visiting a website with a size of 2 megabytes once generates 1.2g CO2. In itself, this is a low number. However, if the page is accessed 10,000 times, the CO2 produced corresponds roughly to the amount that seven trees can absorb in one year. An electric car could drive 1.8 km with this energy.

2MB

Durchschnittliche Seitengröße im Jahr 2020

1.2g

Verursachter CO2-Ausstoß pro Seitenaufruf von einer Webseite mit 2 MB

The effects of digital change on the environment are great and will continue to increase in the future. So far, there is still insufficient awareness of the importance of sustainability in web developments.


Sustainable web development

There are four areas, each of which has a significant impact on the page's energy consumption. The goal of sustainable web development is to minimize energy consumption. Let me help you make your site more sustainable and efficient.

SustainableWebDevelopment

Inhalt

Barrierefreiheit

Webperformance

SEO

Sustainability guidelines

Promoting sustainability is an integral part of my professional activities. My goal is to develop good sustainability practices and implement them in everyday work. I also support my customers and partners in establishing an ecologically sustainable culture on the internet.

On the platform Wholegraindigital there is a manifest in which all signatories publicly support the creation of a sustainable Obligation of the Internet.

Sustainable Web Manifesto

The sustainable web manifesto was launched in 2019 by Wholegraindigital. It is a project to integrate principles of sustainability into daily work. Wholegraindigital has chosen a manifest as the format to make it clear that the principles listed are universal.

Practical Steps - How do I implement the Manifesto?

I have signed the manifesto, and I work according to its guidelines as best as possible. The following areas are critical to me:

Plant trees and become climate-positive

With every page view, my website also contributes to the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. To offset these CO2 emissions, I let plant trees on Ecologi and Review Forest. A climate-positive balance sheet is important to me. So I'm having more trees planted than needed to compensate for the CO2 emissions caused by my website.

Acquisition of equipment and consumption of resources

Every hardware and software that I need for my work is used in the most resource-efficient way possible. Smartphones and laptops can have a long lifespan if they are repaired. I try to minimize the use of paper and other materials in the office.

I reduce my energy consumption from office equipment by buying energy-efficient equipment.

Digital operation

When we browse the internet, we are often not aware of the exact size of our CO2 footprint. The influence of your site can be seen very quickly with websitecarbon.com or digitalbeacon.co. There are also many digital ways to contribute to climate protection. For example, Review Forest helps to be more sustainable while getting Google reviews.

CarbonWebsiteAnalysis

CO2-Emission

marcradziwill.com

year 2024
118.00 g

1.0
1.0 + 1
  • Date: 06 Mar 2024
  • 1Pageviews: Based on 1 thousand page views per day (https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=amazon.com).
  • 1CO2: Based on 0.08 g g CO2-emissions per pageview
  • Bytes: 147 KB.
  • Adjusted Bytes for returning visitors: 111 KB.
  • How much CO2 a tree can absorb: 12 - But really a tree absorbs anywhere between 10 and 40kg of CO2 per year on average, depending on a whole host of factors.
  • Green Host

Whenever possible, I choose service providers who share the same ethos and use renewable energy. I make sure files are shared internally. If I need to share them externally I use secure methods and no email attachments to reduce the amount of data transferred.

I minimize my required cloud storage by storing customer files online only for the project period but for a maximum period of 12 months. The data is checked weekly and then deleted if necessary. On the one hand, I want to save customer data as briefly as possible on my own. On the other hand, every byte contributes to the server consuming electricity and thus CO2.

  1. https://sustainablewebdesign.org/
  2. HTTPArchive - State of the Web - Total Kilobytes