11 ways you can minimise your online environmental impact

1. Switch to a renewable energy provider

   Wherever your digital tech is plugged in (home or office), make sure you are optisimising your workplace to best suit both you and the planet!

2. Set cooling systems to a higher temperature

   If your business has an energy centre/server, (9% in energy costs can be saved for every 1°C increase in temperature). 23°C is optimum without risking overheating.

3. Clean up your data

   Every digital device has a storage componant (saved on your server, desktop, the cloud, hard drive, etc) make sure you regularly clean these and empty 'recycling bins'. Delete old files you no longer need or those 10 identical photos. Cloud computing in particular consumes a lot of energy as files are backed up over and over again for security reasons.

4. New digital purchases

   If you have to purchase new digital-based tech, buy with energy efficiency and lifespan in mind. Even better, buy secondhand. There is currently a global shortage of proccessors, so buying secondhand maybe also be a cheaper alternative!

5. Download instead of streaming

   Downloading actually uses much less energy, and make sure to view in lower definition. Platforms like Netflix use more than 20x the energy to stream in high definition.

6. Think before you search!

   Google searches consumed as much energy as the city of San Francisco in 2015 (which is likely to be much higher now). Go straight to the website address if you know it instead of searching it.

7. Clean out your email inbox

   Each email sent, received and stored requires computing power. Unsubscribe from newsletters you never read, cut down on junk mail, clear out old messages.

8. Change how you search

   Use a planet-friendly search engine like Ecosia who plant trees. You can also switch to an eco-friendly email provider.

9. Switch to a green website host

   There are now a lot more options of website hosting companies. New hosts are available that use renewable energy and optimises energy-efficiency. A website with 10,000 page views a month could emit up to as much CO2 as driving a car over 5000 miles.

10. Test your website’s carbon footprint

    Websites are available which can test the carbon footprint of your online webpages. Receive tips to decrease it, including improving website SEO, increasing website speed, using paler colours. You can also test your website online.

11. Have ‘camera off’ meetings

    Turning your camera off during a video-conference can reduce your environmental footprint in that meeting by 96%.

Do all of this and you’re well on your way to dramatically reducing your digital carbon footprint. Go one step further and encourage staff, customers and suppliers to do the same. The positive impact you could have on the planet is vast!

Bryony Salter
Business Development Manager