Green Web Hosting refers to those web hosting companies that make efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, or even to become completely carbon neutral. This benefits you because you can continue to offer your website to the world without leaving a negative carbon footprint.

For an average year of hosting your website a non-green web hosting company will help emit 19,890 lbs of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere.

By 2020 the amount of servers used to host web sites is projected to increase four fold. As a result they are expected to surpass the airline industry as a source of Carbon emitters.

This is a reality of the world we live, the power needed to run the servers traditionally comes from unclean methods.

But there is another way!

Alternative energy such as solar and wind are becoming increasingly efficient and cost effective. Everyday people are able to invest in these alternate types of energy and choose to use services that take advantage of this clean and sustainable source.

Along with alternative energy,green web hosting companies are offsetting their carbon footprint is by purchasing carbon credits. By investing in technologies and initiatives that will reduce carbon emissions in other parts of the world they can negate the impact hosting your website would have.

These are both great ways to get starting living a carbon neutral lifestyle. I hope you find the information here useful in helping you find the right web hosting solution.

What are the different ways we can make energy to power our websites?

Wind Farms

A large wind farm may consist of a few dozen to about 100 individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles (square kilometers),

At the end of March 2008 the United States wind power capacity was 18,302 MW, which is enough to serve 4.9 million average households.

Solar Arrays

Solar Collectors transform short wavelengths into long wavelengths and trap this energy in the form of heat which is transferred and transported into a heat storage vault. Solar panels convert selected wavelengths of light into electricity.

The earth receives more energy from the sun in just one hour than the world uses in a whole year.

Solar panel technology is getting more affordable every year. A well planned solar house can supply all the electrical household needs and 80% of the heating requirements.

How do my cornflakes cause global warming now?

Okay, so it sounds a little far fetched but every product that is produced, or every food that is grown uses fuel to do so. The same dirty energy that has brought us to the crises we are in today. Your Carbon Footprint is the amount of Carbon Dioxide you contribute to the growing levels in our atmosphere. It is nearly impossible to live without a carbon footprint in today’s world, however there are many steps you can take to lower yours, or even further reverse your usage.

Determining our own Carbon Footprints is not an exact science, but there are many good tools available to give ourselves an idea of the impact we’re having on the environment everyday. When I first learned how many tons of CO2 I was responsible for when compared to the world average I was shocked.

Carbon Footprint Calculators

How big is your Carbon Footprint? Use these tools provided free to help determine your Carbon Footprint.

The Nature Conservancy Carbon Footprint Calculator
EPA Househole Emmisions Calculator

Ways to reduce your Carbon footprint

• Cut Your Footprint offers 10 ways to cut you Carbon Footprint
• Brave New Climate offers 10 more well thought out ways to go green
  
• Choosing a Green Web Host Provider that is green and eco-friendly

We can’t keep doing things the way we have been!

Everyday worldwide we emit 74,646 tons of Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. The main culprit being our overwhelming dependence on fossil fuels. Not only is the byproduct poisonous to the earth, but harvesting oil destroys and pollutes. On top of this the economic implications alone of a single finite energy source are beginning to really effect everyone on a daily basis.

What can we do?

The most important thing to realize is that you have the ability to make drastic changes to the way things currently are. You may think small things like turning off lights when you leave a room, or choosing a web host that uses green energy won’t make a difference but they do. This works because you are one of millions of concious individuals who have the same goal, and share the same vision.