Hello forumers,

 

I have a blog that I’m hosting for free at the 000 web host.I haven’t had any problems but they don’t support Fantastico and although that has prompted me to learn a lot about site management, I’ve reached a point where I think that the automated installation of scripts would save me a lot of time. Note that this is my hobby and not my main occupation so time (and money) is important.

 

The thing is that I want to transfer to a web host that is actively green and not just green-washing. Now, when I mention that to my friends who are web designers, I usually get a lot of frowns as most of them think that the best web hosts out there don’t think about going green in order to attract customers. But I think that since the carbon footprint of the internet has reached the levels of the avio-industry, it was time that people started acting more responsibly about that and I want to reward a company for trying to do the right thing.

 

So I want a host that is:

a) Using wind/solar powered servers and possibly offices

Is offsetting their carbon footprint (preferably actively for example by planting trees and not just by buying offsetting credits)

c) Has generally an eco-friendly attitude and not just one eco-friendly package

d) Has good customer support as I’m not that experienced with facing issues

 

My blog is on the WordPress platform and it wouldn’t get too many visitors, never more than 100 a day. I upload one medium sized picture per post and I don’t have any videos uploaded (sometimes I do embed YouTube videos but that doesn’t count, right?) so the blog is not file heavy.

 

Also at some point I’m thinking of building another small website on the Joomla platform, nothing too big, which I would like to host with the same provider.

 

My budget for having both of them on a shared server could not exceed £60-70 per year.

 

And last but not least, I live in the UK so I guess for legal reasons it would be best that the provider is also based here.

 

I have already done some research but I would really like to hear if any of you have had any good or bad experience with (or maybe are working for) any providers that tick most or all the boxes.

 

I would really appreciate your help/recommendations on this.

 

Cheers,

Alexandra

part of the problem you have is point a) - no data centres will be using solar or wind generated power, it's just not reliable enough. Most dc's also have diesel generators for backup power too! Even if your host says that they offset their carbon footprint, the DC that they will be using doesnt!

 

We would love to be more carbon neutral but unfortunately we can only be more responsible in what we use, ie we switch everything off that isnt critical in office etc.

 

thanks

Brian

A google search turns up results like http://www.ecowebhosting.co.uk/ which seem to offer traditional industry practices for service provision coupled with offsetting measures (or gimmicks if you feel cynical).

 

At Eco Web Hosting we carefully calculate the carbon emissions produced as a result of our web server being on 24 hours a day. We then offset these emissions by planting trees at Ransomwood Business Park in Nottinghamshire. As the trees we plant are young, and will absorb much more carbon as they grow, we will, in the long term, be a carbon positive company. This model allows us to have a positive (not just neutral) effect on the environment, as well as avoiding the large costs of solar panels or wind generators. We can then pass these savings on to our customers.

 

(Which elides the question of how they can offer better prices than traditional hosting companies which don't bother to offset...)

 

So it looks like offsetting is more economic than sourcing energy that represents low emissions. Still as wise notes, much could depend on them employing common sense in the office: utilizing equipment for its shelf life before upgrading, buying fuel-efficient servers, using DCs that make use of the heat produced instead of letting it go to waste etc.

 

If you're really concerned about this send a couple of emails to companies like this and judge for yourself whether they sound genuine. After all, with so many hosting providers out there to choose from, greenwashing and promoting yourself as the green option might be nothing more than good business acumen. So definately ask them before being taken in by the front page hyperbole.

Using more efficient servers is definately a great way to go. Were almost finished replacing every one of our servers with ones that consume more than 50% LESS electricity than our last lot, and are more than 3 times as powerful, thus 2 racks of servers are now using less than what 1 used to use, and can host far more websites, and still never go over 25% of their capability (Zero overselling)

 

I guess the hosts who seriously oversell could be classed as eco friendly, jamming thousands of accounts onto 1 dual core CPU server (We have found a LOT of the big hosts doing this simply by asking lol)

 

On the whole, were well impressed with our new servers, 8 drives in RAID10, multi quad core CPU's, and half the electric bill

Hi guys,

 

Thank you all for your answers and sorry for not coming back earlier (terribly busy week!).

 

I think that the answer from @sobredosis is the one that I was afraid to admit as being the most reliable way of finding out.

 

I was hoping that I will hear at least some advice from personal experience but I guess "being green" is not on the top list of priorities for most in the web industry.

 

Anyway, at least the whole e-mail sending process will also give me a chance to find out how good and knowledgeable their customer cervice is.

 

Cheers