What is Green Web Hosting?

When a company chooses a hosting company, the most important factors are the quality of the services offered and customer service. However, the environmental impact tends to be overlooked. Yet environmental protection and energy conservation have become a real priority. In Switzerland, renewable energy consumption accounted for 80 % of electricity consumption in 2021. Green solutions are therefore being prioritised by companies, with the aim of meeting the ecological requirements that are becoming increasingly important to consumers. In fact, companies are agreeing to find eco-friendly energy solutions, particularly when it comes to web hosting, which consumes a lot of energy. That's whyeco-friendly web hosting is becoming more and more popular. 

But besides, why do these servers consume a lot of energy?

As we explained to you in our article on WordPress, a host, is the home of your website. This is where all files and data are stored. The host stores them on servers which they manage themselves. These servers need to be running at full capacity, because if they stop, websites are simply no longer accessible. However, like anything that runs continuously, servers overheat. So to keep them running, they need to be cooled. This in turn requires high energy consumption. Firstly, because they are never 'switched off', and secondly, because they need to be kept at the right temperature at all times. As a result, many hosting companies are becoming aware of the impact of this energy consumption on their carbon footprint and are trying to reduce it by moving towards ecological solutions.

Internet: the harmful effects on the environment.

The Internet is now at the heart of our lives. It has enabled us to be connected more quickly, in a more automated way, no matter where we are. However, despite the many advantages of the Internet, this continuous sharing of information has resulted in a significant carbon footprint on the environment. All the seemingly innocuous data used to send emails, listen to music, store data on networks and share information via social media all consume a lot of energy. In fact, it concentrates a large number of round trips between devices and servers, non-stop in operation, which is very harmful to our planet. That's the whole point of eco-friendly web hosting. Eco-responsible web hosts use a green and environmentally friendly approach to powering websites and maintaining servers and domain names. For their operation, they only use renewable green energy, in order to enter into a more responsible approach to the environment.

Ecological web hosting, what does it consist of?

Green web hosting is an eco-friendly way of hosting websites. Most green web hosting companies aim to provide high quality services while taking steps to limit their carbon emissions. There are several ways to limit your carbon emissions:

• Use renewable energy such as solar or wind to power the servers and keep them running.
• Reduce environmental impact in the management of his company by reducing, for example, the consumption of water, heating and by setting up recycling.
• Use more modern materials, which heat up less quickly and are more environmentally friendly for servers.
• Switch to shared hosting, which consists of storing data from different sites on the same server to avoid wasting energy and to automate the server's capacities as much as possible.

Thus, there are various ways for web hosting companies to protect the environment, without compromising the quality of their service.

What are the advantages of eco-friendly web hosting?

Green web hosting has many benefits for your business and for the environment. Let's take a look at the top three benefits of a green hosting plan.

Harmless to the environment

The main advantage of an ecological web hosting is therefore without any surprise its lower impact on the environment. It's the safest way to power websites and manage data while reducing your carbon footprint.

Less expensive than traditional accommodation

Contrary to what one might think, ecological web hosting is less expensive. A standard hosting provider consumes more electricity, so its services will be more expensive to ensure that they are profitable. Nor does green hosting powered by renewable energy mean a lower quality of service. It's perfectly possible to access the same benefits as with traditional hosting providers, such as security, email and domain names. 

Ideal for your company profile

Getting into an environmental approach is an ideal solution for your brand image. Supporting sustainability is a key factor in consumers' buying decisions, and it will do your brand awareness a lot of good.

How do you verify that you are using eco-friendly web hosting?

You have to be sure to invest in a host with real intentions to protect the environment and not to be fooled by companies that greenwash. To be sure, check, for example, the various certifications obtained by these companies. The PUE: Power Usage Effectiveness consists of measuring the difference between the total quantity of energy necessary for the proper functioning of a company and the share of energy used only for the servers. The goal for the host is then to find ways to have lower energy costs outside the servers themselves. For example, companies can switch to solar panels to heat the premises or practice freecooling for the servers (use outside air instead of air conditioners to cool them”, ISO standards: the ISO 14001 and 50001 standards are complementary and awarded to companies that have found ways to reduce their energy consumption.

Go green with web hosting

Eco-friendly web hosting can be beneficial for your business or personal website. Your visitors will be sensitive to your efforts to protect the environment and your brand image will benefit greatly. At Geekworkers, we work mainly with Infomaniak, a host committed to ecology and certified PUE as well as ISO 14001 and 50001. So don't hesitate any longer and contact us !