Eco-Friendly websites? Is it possible?
The now world has more eco-friendly products than ever before. Now, it is standard for a major company to create a line of eco-products to show their support for the environment, even if they're only doing it for money and don't care. Many groups and advocates only want products sourced from materials that will not endanger the planet. Customers also want their products to come from renewable sources, so the environment is stripped of its precious resources. But what about our technology? Is it as eco-friendly as it should be? How much energy and finite resources does it take to use the internet, and what is the environmental impact?
The internet and greenhouse gasses
When we think of products and objects that need to take on eco-friendly characteristics, plastics, appliances, furniture, and vehicles are the first things to mind. Physical items with which we can touch and interact. Plus, it is easy to calculate the environmental tool these objects have on the earth. But what about the products and services we cannot touch with our hands? What about the Internet? What is its environmental cost? An eagle finding is an environmental cost of the internet is much harder to calculate, but we finally have a ballpark answer. In 2025, the internet and its technologies will contribute 8% of all greenhouse emissions. Although other industries contribute more, none are as fast-growing as internet technologies. And the internet is growing as more internet-enabled devices hit the market, as 5G rolls out, and the adoption of virtual reality comes to every home.
The ever-present internet
Now in 2021, we live in a world of constant internet access. Before smartphones, the internet had a finite impact on our lives and the environment. When we were no longer using the internet, we simply turned off our computers. But the invention of smartphones created the 24-hour accessible internet. When we're not on our computers, we are interacting on social media, checking email, can I update my favorite apps, and occasionally Googling things.
Although you may not think about it too much since it is so easy now, all these activities require the internet. And when we are not using the internet consciously, our smartphone is constantly sending and receiving data to our cell phone provider and the apps we use. So we've created a 24-hour internet that never stops using energy. But how does it use energy, and why?
The environmental costs of servers
Every website that's on the internet is stored on a server. These servers are physical and must be in a dedicated location to the internet and power. The servers are the reason why the internet exists. Every website has to have access to a server if they want to store information from their website and allow users worldwide to access the site.
Servers are the first reason why the internet has an environmental impact. Each server requires rare earth metals, plastic, wiring, and a battery. While plastic and wires can be recycled; Rare Earth metals are just that: rare. There is no way to recreate or renew these rare earth elements that are so pivotal to our technology. We can reuse them, but many companies throw out servers when they are done with them. So the wiring, plastics, metal, and rare earth metals are never recycled.
The second reason why the internet has an environmental impact is the amount of electricity needed to power the servers. The average eight-core server requires 200 watts of power if used at halftime. So a website server, which must always be online, will use 400 watts in a month. That amount doesn't sound like much, and there are plenty of household appliances that use 400 watts of electricity per month. The 400 watts is only the cost of one server. A website hosting service will have thousands of servers working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The only time the servers will ever be turned off is from a routine maintenance check.
Finally, the third reason servers have a major environmental impact from the coolant they require to function. Servers become very hot, so they need that heat to dissipate or be transported to other areas, so they do not overheat and malfunction. Coolant is not biodegradable and not eco-friendly in any way. Also, coolant breaks down, so companies must manufacture more. It is toxic, so it must be disposed of. And, also requires energy so they can be pumped through the server system and draw the heat away from the machines.
How to reduce the impacts of server usage
Obviously, the first way to improve the environmental impact of using servers is to draw electricity from a renewable source. Solar Farms are a great way for many of these massive companies to power all their equipment and servers. The sun is a renewable energy resource, and it will always be there until the day the universe implodes on itself, which is still a few billion years away.
The second way to reduce the internet's environmental impact is to only purchase and use servers that are completely recyclable and adopt recycling practices, so nothing is wasted or thrown away. While every single piece of equipment should be recycled, the precious rare earth metals are perhaps the most important. They are elements, so they cannot be created from anything, and they're unbelievably rare, and they're it isn't making any more.
The third and most difficult way to reduce the environmental impact of service is to find a new way to cool the servers. Companies must invest in different ways to dissipate the servers' heat or create biodegradable, eco-friendly coolant to run through the server system.
Until these steps are taken, eco-friendly websites won't exist.
Conclusion
None of these solutions are overnight fixes, but a year of embracing solar panel technology and good government regulation can significantly improve the internet's environmental impact. We humans only have one planet, and it is important for all people and industries to do their part and keep it healthy.
One more thing: here you have great 15 Earth-Friendly websites list by Aimee Della Bitta.
