Most people know that climate change is a real and imminent threat. And we can easily identify most of the big culprits like non-renewable energy and heavy transport. But most people don’t realise the climate impact of the Internet.
It is estimated that up to 4% of global carbon emissions are caused by the Internet. That’s roughly equivalent to the entire air travel industry, and more than the whole United Kingdom.
And as our Internet usage grows, so does its negative climate impact.
While this is concerning, as business owners this means we have an opportunity to make a difference by reducing the negative impact of our business websites.
Every time a user visits your website there are three major sources of emissions:
Companies like Google are starting to address the first issue. They are now using more renewable energy in their data centres, and there already many green web hosting providers.
But while we can choose green website hosting, that choice is still limited. And even if all data centres used renewable energy it is still impossible for us to control the energy choices of the telecom networks and our individual website visitors.
The Green Website Network was launched to help tackle the growing emissions problem presented by the Internet. We are a social enterprise focused on two things:
When you purchase and install our Green Pointer badge you get 100 GreenBytes of data per week, which is enough for most websites to be completely climate positive!
By installing the badge on your website you can show the world your commitment to sustainability, and ensure your visitors can spend time on your website completely guilt-free.
For every Green Pointer badge installed we manage 100 GreenBytes of data per week. That’s enough to make most websites climate positive!
Research shows that 88% of people would rather work with eco-friendly businesses, and 92% say they are more likely to trust a business that is socially responsible.
Purchase a Green Pointer badge for just $3.75/week (AUD, paid annually at $195) and you will get: