making websites green
Who would have thought that one of the fastest growing threats to our environment is the internet? Websites are hosted on web servers which are computers that remain switched on 24 hours a day, 365 days per year. These machines guzzle a constant stream of electricity themselves, nevermind the associated consumption from backup devices, routers, airconditioning and more. Data Centers are the places where most web sites live. Web servers are stacked up in racks and are connected to the internet by large, usually redundant, lines.
All of this hardware burns a lot of fuel. Most fuel that gets burned is coal. Coal when ignited in the heart of a power station has an unfortunate byproduct: carbon dioxide. The major contributor to global warming is carbon dioxide and now the internet is producing an alarming amount of this gas.
This problem prompted Lucid Surf founder, Bradley Hook, to devise a solution that would enable the internet to become a more environmentally friendly tool. By planting trees in reforestation schemes he worked out that around five trees would offset a similar amount of carbon as that produced by an average server over a year. And so Tick Green was born.
We at Lucid Surf encourage all of our clients to make their websites green and spread the word. It's the smallest steps that can make the biggest difference, especially with a tool (ie the internet) which is only just beginning to mature.