When you are choosing a web hosting business you will usually weigh up many aspects, such as the cost, the support they provide, and the reputation that they have. One thing that probably won’t even cross your mind though is the impact the company has on the environment.
Why Should You Take This into Consideration?
Web hosting requires a lot of energy. For example, data centers can have thousands of computers that have a high drive usage and CPU. With numerous best online casinos popping up everyday, meaning more computers and devices. This can create so much heat that a huge cooling system is also needed to keep the temperatures at a manageable level.
The maths we are about to give will surprise you. It has been estimated that the average website on the Internet is responsible for just over 2,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide a year, which is the same that would be produced if you were to drive a new car 10,000 miles. In this context, we are not entirely sure what “average” is, but it is clear that web hosting has a huge impact on the environment.
Take a Look at These Shocking Figures
When it comes to environmental issues, you often here people talk about the negative effects of plastic, air travel, and car usage on the environment. However, how often have you heard anyone talk about the negative effect that the Internet is having on the planet? Barely ever we bet! Just how much of an impact can be seen below, and they figures will shock you.
• Around 3.5 billion people around the world have access to the Internet, which means that the Internet’s carbon footprint is now bigger than that which is left by air travel.
• There are around 70 million servers in the world, most of which are run using non-renewable energy sources. They contribute to around 2% of greenhouse gases.
• Every second that you spend on website generates around 20 milligrams of carbon dioxide. Some of the more complex websites can generate around 300 milligrams of carbon dioxide per second.
All of Us at HostForest Are Trying to Change This
All of us at HostForest care deeply about the environment, so we put in a lot of effort to try and cut down our carbon emissions as best as we can.
One of the ways to reduce a website’s carbon emissions is to use a data centre that does away with fossil fuel electricity and makes use of renewable energy instead. At HostForest, for every single unit of energy that we process, we pay money to create double the amount of energy from renewable resources and inject that into our grid.
Green web hosts often have to charge their customers more due to the fact that we need to pay more in order to create renewable energy. However, whereas some of our competitors charge their customers quite a bit more, we do our best to charge as little extra as possible.
After all, if you choose us to host your website, why should you be penalised heavily for wanting to do your bit to save the environment? That is right, you shouldn’t!