As developers are getting more familiar with sustainable web design, they’re finding ways to cut back on carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. By cutting down on code and creating “green” websites. They’re able to reduce their CO2 footprint while also reducing the amount of power needed to run a website. We’ll explore what green coding is, its benefits and what you can do to make your own website more sustainable.
What is green coding?
It is the practice of reducing carbon emissions through sustainable web design. Green coding means making changes that help reduce your website’s environmental footprint. On top of that, it means maintaining a positive user experience and not hindering functionality. This can be done by following the world wide web standards as laid out by the world wide web consortium (W3C), as well as sustainable development practices. These allow you to create websites with less code and therefore will require less energy to host them on servers.
How does green coding work?
Green coding can help reduce the amount of carbon emissions that a website produces. In order to green code your site, you’ll need to find ways to optimize its functionality and design without compromising either one… luckily the team at Four Drunk Parrots are up for the task!
Making changes like this will make your website load faster as well as use fewer resources which will lower their carbon footprint over time. It also requires developers to think about how they build sites from start to finish in order for green coding practices to become second nature when building new web pages or apps .
How can green coding lower a website’s carbon footprint?
There are many different ways you can lower a website’s carbon footprint through green coding, including:
Minimising browser tracking
One of the ways green coding can be achieved is by minimising the amount of tracking that’s done. By not sending information to third parties. You remove extra steps your users would have had to take in order for them to receive their requested content. This means less load on servers and a faster loading time. Which will improve user experience and increase your conversions!
Reducing server requests
Another way green coding can be used is by reducing how many times a web page has to request data from its hosting server before it’s able to display all components. This can be done by using caching methods in order to reduce the number of requests needed before your page is able to load.
Minimising coding and images
Another green code practice is to reduce the number of elements on a page. Particularly those that require Javascript or CSS files. Compression and minification of these elements will reduce the size and number required to load a webpage.
By removing parts of these scripts (elements like tracking pixels etc.) you can significantly decrease load time. You can also ensure only what’s required appears in the browser window for users to see by minimising how much data they have to download. Saving bandwidth and energy!
Using green hosting services
Green coding could also mean choosing an eco-friendly web host. These hosts use renewable energy sources such as solar power which means less pollution and consequently lower CO² emissions from servers located there. As we’ve seen before, every little bit helps when it comes to green coding and climate change so by choosing green hosting services you’re helping contribute to a greener planet.
These green coding practices help reduce the time it takes for a page to load and can make your website run smoother. Once you’ve greened up your site, you should be able to see improvements in how fast pages download as well as reduced server requests which will also allow you to cut down on carbon emissions.
What are the benefits of green coding?
By green coding your site using sustainable development practices you’ll be able to reduce carbon emissions and help fight climate change! Additional advantages of green coding include:
Improved page speed
As green coding reduces server requests, it can increase page speed. This means users are able to access your content more quickly. Which in return will lead to an improved user experience and increased conversions!
Greater SEO appeal
Another great benefit of green coding is that, if done correctly, should improve the search engine optimisation (SEO) ranking of your site. Green coding can be used to help improve the visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Reduced load on servers
As green coding minimises server requests, this will mean that there’s a lower load on your servers. By green coding your site and making it more efficient in terms of bandwidth usage. You can cut down on server requests which will lower how much power is needed to run a web page. This leads directly to less greenhouse gas emissions produced by the servers.
In conclusion
Green coding is a powerful movement that can help save our planet by cutting back on CO₂ emissions from web design and development practices. It also also improves performance, saves money and makes websites more sustainable for everyone involved.
You can start greening up some of your projects right now! Get in touch with our team to find out how.