
While I was on a road trip, and attempting to work on a website at the same time, my wife asked a prudent question while filling up at the gas station: Does a website use energy, and if so, how much? I smiled and tried to put together a response as the “techie” of the relationship. But then I realized I had no clue.
Upon further research, I found that web hosting consumes 1 to 1.5% of global energy — similar to industries like aviation, transportation, and food processing (not the best group to be compared to).
That’s when I started researching eco-friendly hosting much more. Its features, how some companies simply use “green” for marketing, and which companies actually commit to an eco-friendly future.
Eco-friendly hosting, often called green hosting, offers a way for people to host their apps and websites with less impact on the earth. Green hosts commit to more sustainable hosting infrastructures, energy-efficient servers, and renewable energy programs that help offset carbon footprints made by technology.
Your website, and the rest of the internet, may seem rather intangible. You can’t hold a website in your hands. You can’t drive it across the country and watch the thing guzzle gas until the meter reads “Empty.”
But every email you send, and every visit to your website, consumes water, electricity, and other types of real energy thanks to the never-ending collection of servers and data centers required to power websites. So, follow along as I teach you all about eco-friendly hosting and how to run a website without hurting the planet.
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Regular Hosting vs. Eco-Friendly Hosting
I find that the easiest way to explain eco-friendly hosting is to compare it to the good old-fashioned hosting we’ve all used for years. I often call these “traditional” hosts. They’re the ones that sell conventional web hosting, with everything from shared to cloud hosting.

What makes them different from eco-friendly hosting? Well, traditional hosting is technically just a host that doesn’t offer eco-friendly solutions. It doesn’t mean the company operates factories that belch black smoke into the air, but it’s more likely that regular hosts rely on the cheapest possible fossil fuels for operating facilities, servers, and cooling systems.
I’ve found three key areas that differentiate regular and eco-friendly hosting:
- Environmental commitment: Green hosts commit to environmental responsibility with pledges, partnerships, and investments in energy-efficient hardware. Regular hosts simply focus on making money and improving performance.
- Infrastructure: Green hosting companies spend money on energy-efficient cooling systems and server hardware. Regular hosts often save money by going for older, cheaper equipment, or at least equipment that’s mainly focused on performance.
- Energy source: Eco-friendly hosts pull from renewable energy sources, while regular hosts turn to cheap solutions like natural gas or coal.
Overall, the key goals of an eco-friendly host are to promote sustainability and reduce their carbon footprint. Conventional hosts may focus on one of those areas, but it’s the combination that makes a business eco-friendly.
Why Eco-Friendly Hosting Matters
To frame the impact of eco-friendly hosting, I find it helps to look at the environmental impact of traditional hosting. This helps me understand what we’re trying to avoid by going with eco-friendly hosting, rather than just blindly assuming that “energy-efficient servers” and “renewable energy sources” are automatically good things.
To start, think about an average website. Each visit to that website produces 1.76 grams of carbon dioxide. That may sound like a low number, but then you have to multiply it by the over 1.6 billion websites online. And you must think about the fact that many websites have thousands or millions of page views per day. Now that’s an issue.
Here are the main ways traditional hosting damages the earth:
- Significant water usage (mainly for cooling systems)
- High level of electrical energy usage
- High emissions of carbon because of power generation from fossil fuels
- Wasted electricity from old, less efficient equipment
During my research, however, I’ve found a long list of ways eco-friendly hosting counteracts these issues:
- Lower overall energy consumption
- Support of global climate protection goals
- More efficient technology that minimizes waste and consumes less energy
- More advanced cooling systems that conserve water
I also can’t help but mention that eco-friendly hosting makes sense business-wise. Hosting users are demanding more efficient technology and commitments to climate protection.
Therefore, I see eco-friendly hosting as a wonderful selling point, one that could warrant a higher price for hosting and an increase in sales.
Features of Eco-Friendly Hosting Providers
You now know what makes eco-friendly hosting good for the earth, and how traditional hosting can cause serious damage. But what are the features you should consider when signing up for a green hosting provider? I’ll outline what to look for below.
Use of Renewable Energy Sources
There are four plausible renewable energy sources in the web hosting world. These renewable energy sources help power everything from servers to cooling systems, so you should find a hosting provider that at least uses one of the most effective renewable energy sources.
Energy Source | Advantages | Common Uses |
---|---|---|
Solar Power | Highly scalable, zero emissions | For basic data centers and general office usage |
Wind Power | Regular, constant power generation | Massive server farms |
Hydroelectric Power | One of the most reliable baseline power options | For backup power |
Geothermal Power | Stable, controllable temperature | Cooling elements |
Each renewable energy source comes into play as we try to reduce the impact of web hosting on the environment. I recommend you look for hosts that use at least one of the energy sources listed.
Some hosts use multiple renewable energy sources, like those that tap into solar power for their data centers and hydroelectric energy for backup power.
Energy-Efficient Server Technology and Data Centers
It’s important to remember that renewable energy sources aren’t nearly as effective at lowering energy consumption if they’re being used by technology that wastes power.
Green hosts must swap out old technologies, particularly those lacking built-in energy-efficient hardware.
Here are some elements to look for when shopping around for a green host:
- Eco-friendly processors and components
- Virtualization on servers to improve the utilization of hardware
- Energy-efficient cooling systems that rely on outdoor air as much as possible
- 80 Plus Platinum (or higher) power supplier for the best efficiency
- Smart management systems for routing power
It all starts with the renewable energy source, but without an energy-efficient data center, and eco-friendly hardware within the data center, your host is simply wasting money by not embracing the entire eco-friendly movement.
Carbon Offsetting Programs
As you may have guessed, a carbon offsetting program attempts to reverse a company’s carbon footprint with “offsetting” measures. When I research hosting providers, I always ask about their carbon offsetting programs. But more importantly, you want to know exactly how the offsetting program works.
Here’s how a high-quality carbon offsetting program works:
- The company calculates its overall carbon footprint
- It invests in certain technologies and projects that offset carbon output
- The host runs consistent audits, then makes adjustments to more efficiently reach the needed offset numbers
- They should also send reports to customers to show a certain level of transparency about carbon offsets
My advice is to contact a sales representative about their carbon offsetting program. Run through as many questions as you can to figure out if the company simply uses carbon offsets in its marketing jargon, or if it truly has a program meant to offset its carbon footprint.
Green Certifications and Partnerships
Any self-proclaimed green host should have no problem producing green certifications for you to view. You should also be able to see if the host has partnerships with any eco-friendly organizations.

You may stumble upon other certifications from your host. That’s all fine and dandy, but the idea is to only consider certifications and partnerships from independent, third-party organizations — like the ones I’ve listed.
Benefits of Eco-Friendly Hosting
After using green hosting for quite some time, I’ve discovered many benefits, and they don’t just revolve around environmental impact.
Here are the key benefits I’ve discovered:
- Environmental sustainability: My green hosted websites produce less carbon emissions and use far less energy than my older websites
- Enhanced brand reputation and customer loyalty: I’ve noticed a new level of brand trust and loyalty from customers who know my websites run on eco-friendly servers
- Cost efficiency in the long term: I’ve seen a reduction in overall resource consumption thanks to the improved technologies used
- Performance and reliability of green hosting: My hosting performance has become more efficient ever since changing to eco-friendly hosting
As you can see, it’s not just about protecting the planet. Eco-friendly hosting means a better future for your business, your customers, and the world.
I get to save money by providing a more efficient website, customers like the idea of using a sustainable website, and the world doesn’t have to endure my carbon emissions.
How to Choose an Eco-Friendly Hosting Provider
I’ve spent countless hours learning about the best eco-friendly hosting providers. That’s partly because so many hosting companies fib, or straight-up lie, about their green hosting efforts. So, I want to make sure my research is as accurate as possible.
Below, I’ll outline the key considerations to look for when choosing an eco-friendly hosting provider.
1. Research Green Certifications (E.G., Green Power Partner, Energy Star)
I’ve encountered so many hosting companies with inaccurate certification information listed on their websites. And sometimes — gasp — a salesperson or customer support rep may lie to you or not know what they’re talking about.
So, here’s what you need to look for when evaluating green certification:
- Check if all certifications are both valid and current
- See if the host is transparent in their reporting of certifications and testing
- Make sure the host conducts regular audits
- Ensure the audits and verifications come from third-party, independent companies
- Check that the hosting company commits to specific environmental policies
You want a host that gets certification legally and from a reputable, independent organization. I also like to seek out hosts that actively follow the guidelines and commitments they pledged when receiving the certifications in the first place.
2. Evaluate Energy Sources and Data Center Practices
The foundation of any solid green hosting operation is its infrastructure. That very infrastructure dictates the amount of energy used. Therefore, it’s wise, as a customer, to not only check on the energy sources but also the data center practices that may affect sustainability.
Here’s what I like to ask to evaluate such things:
- How does your company handle electronic waste?
- What are the technologies and tools used for cooling?
- How does your company assess, measure, and improve energy efficiency?
- What percentage of the power used in your data centers comes from renewable sources?
In my experience, legitimate green hosts should get over 75% of their power from renewable sources. Anything lower shows promise, but there’s room for improvement.
3. Check Customer Reviews and Performance Benchmarks
I view customer reviews as a way to test hosts with real humans. Sure, you have the option to explore a hosting dashboard yourself, and you can contact the sales team to ask questions, but there’s nothing like reviews from people who have actually used the host for an extended period.
When checking customer reviews, look for these things:
- Mentions of a good or bad user interface
- People talking about performance and how their websites respond on the servers
- Complaints or praise for a provider’s commitments to environmentalism
- Views on whether the host releases helpful, regular updates
- Thoughts on the customer support
As for specific performance metrics, I usually look for:
- Load times
- Performance lag
- Environmental performance stats
- Uptime numbers
- Responsiveness from customer support
With customer reviews and hard metrics, you’re well on your way to figuring out which providers offer truly green hosting. Looking at user reviews also gives you insights into pricing and value.
4. Compare Pricing and Plans
I’ve grown to assume that an environmentally friendly choice usually means I’ll have to spend more money. If I were to buy an electric car, I’d spend far more than I would for a gas-powered car. When my wife buys sustainable toiletries and kitchen products, I can almost guarantee that they’re twice the price of their “regular” alternatives.
But here’s the thing: being environmentally conscious shouldn’t break the bank. You should probably expect to pay a little more for green hosting, but there are limits.
Here’s what to consider to get the best value for green hosting:
- Look at scalability options to ensure you don’t have to migrate or spend too much money as your business grows
- Compare the initial costs and long-term value of green hosting plans
- Examine all the included features and services with these plans to establish the overall value
- Make sure the pricing comes with environmental reporting features
In my experience, green and eco-friendly hosting almost always costs a little more than regular hosting. However, I generally find green hosting to have better long-term value.
Examples of Eco-Friendly Hosting Providers
My research and usage of green hosting have delivered both exceptional and disappointing results. Luckily, I’m able to filter out the bad options for you and only focus on the ones that actually have green initiatives with tangible results.
Here are my favorite eco-friendly hosting providers:
- GreenGeeks: This hosting company is a master in carbon offsetting, seeing as how it offsets three times the amount of energy it consumes with renewable alternatives. It boasts energy-efficient servers, processors, and solid-state drives.
- DreamHost: Since 2007, DreamHost has maintained carbon neutrality, showing its commitment to offsetting carbon consumption with wind energy and high-efficiency cooling systems.
- Google Cloud Hosting Providers (Like Kinsta): Any host powered by Google Cloud takes advantage of Google’s data center efficiency, carbon neutrality, and renewable energy matching.
Overall, I can often recommend any Google Cloud Platform host like Kinsta or Cloudways. GreenGeeks is the industry benchmark, though. You’re bound to receive the most energy-efficient hosting from GreenGeeks since most of their business revolves around it.
Tips for Reducing Your Website’s Carbon Footprint
Besides going with green hosting (which is perhaps one of the best things you can do to reduce your carbon footprint), I’ve found various ways to minimize the effect of your website on the environment.
It’s like optimizing your home for energy efficiency. You don’t have to do it all at once. A few steps each year makes a big difference.
Optimize Your Website Design for Energy Efficiency
Optimization for energy efficiency comes in your design choices, coding practices, and the amount of media you use.

Instead of guessing which optimization tactics to use, I’ve combined a list of the most effective ones.
- Minimize your use of plugins
- Add a mobile responsive design
- Optimize all media and images that are uploaded to your site
- Follow efficient coding practices
With optimized pages, media, and code, your server doesn’t work as hard to retrieve your website every time. This saves energy and cuts down on your website’s overall carbon footprint.
Minimize Server Requests and File Sizes
As mentioned before, the goal of optimization is to help your server work less. One way to do that is to minimize server requests and file sizes.

Here are my best practices to do that:
- Add browser caching to your setup
- Implement lazy loading for all website images
- Clean, minify, and combine redundant JavaScript and CSS files
- Compress heavyweight images and files
As a bonus, these tricks help improve your website’s performance. So, you’re getting a faster and more eco-friendly site, which should also make customers happy to stick around and buy more.
Use A Content Delivery Network (CDN) and Caching
A content delivery network (CDN) uses a network of servers to deliver content to the user — instead of forcing one server to do all the work. Combined with caching, I find it essential to reduce your carbon footprint.

Here are my best practices for caching and CDN usage:
- Turn on edge computing if possible
- Cut down on the distance your data needs to travel (with a CDN)
- Minimize server load with reliable caching strategies
- Send your content (particularly images) across multiple servers for distribution (done with a CDN)
I’m noticing a trend. Are you? When you improve your eco-friendly policies and try to reduce your carbon footprint, it also leads to better performance and the potential for savings.
Encourage Sustainable Digital Practices
As a website owner, you have users (site visitors) and team members. I encourage you to educate both parties as much as possible about sustainable practices.

This way, you create a systematic focus on green energy that won’t fall apart just because you leave the organization.
Here’s how to do that:
- Always use eco-friendly design principles so users and workers see it firsthand
- Educate your team members and users about sustainability
- Explain the efforts your brand has taken to offset your carbon footprint and promote sustainability
Finally, you should conduct audits regularly to see how all your sustainability efforts are going. Then, you can turn around and publish those results for everyone to see.
Eco-Friendly Hosting: It’s a Journey
Transforming your website into one that offsets most of its carbon production takes time. It all starts, however, with a reputable green hosting solution with eco-friendly technology and initiatives.
If you’re considering eco-friendly hosting options, remember that such a shift — if not only for the good of the world — can also save money and speed up your site. And in my experience, helping the world feels much sweeter when it pays dividends in other ways, too.