White Hat Technology – How to be Eco-Conscience Online

Most people do their part to protect the planet through a series of small but consistent decisions. They bring reusable bags to the store, recycle trash, put rechargeable batteries in the remote or maybe even driving a hybrid or electric vehicle.

All of which is great, but there’s one part of life where one’s environmental impact is basically invisible – online. Every time someone logs on to check an email, binge watches a favorite show, downloads a new album by a favorite artist or just plain gets some work done, there’s a data center packed with servers, routers and other equipment operating somewhere to make that internet magic happen.

The problem is data centers run on a significant amount of electricity. Some burn diesel fuel to meet their energy needs and many use eco-unfriendly batteries as a power back-up in case of an outage (imagine the chaos of a data center that serves a global bank had a sustained power outage). The electricity consumption doesn’t just power the technology, either. Over 40 percent of data center’s electricity use actually stems from keeping servers nice and cool. Then there’s the routers, switches and other gear itself, all of which have components ranging from plastic to precious metal.

Before you beat yourself up too much for that last social media session, however, relax. But servers themselves are becoming far more efficient in part due to the need to reduce data center costs. And there are a number of ingenious ways to cut down energy usage by using solar power or piping in sea water for cooling. And while your small business may run on the internet – literally, if it’s an online retail store or remote-work organization – there’s still a simple way to be environmentally responsible without unplugging everything.

White Hat Technology wants to help businesses be better for the planet, especially when they’re online. That’s why we partner with IONOS, a web hosting company that’s also an EPA Green Power Partner. We were impressed and thrilled to find this company does everything it can to ensure its data centers have as small a carbon footprint as possible. They use the most efficient servers possible and upgrade them when necessary. When it’s time to dispose of a server, it’s recycled and disposed of responsibly. Two IONOS data centers based in Europe, one in Germany and one in the United Kingdom, are powered by renewable resources. When that’s not an option, other IONOS data centers offset their impact through carbon certificates. Even outside the data center, offices are energy efficient and employees are encouraged to recycle and carpool or use public transit.

Reducing one’s carbon footprint is a huge responsibility achieved through many small decisions. One of the most simple decisions an environmentally conscious business can make is to opt for a green webspace solution.