Behind the Website: Green Web Hosts

How to green your website? I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because most of my work relies on the internet and all of my endeavors involve websites.

It’s true of most companies, whether big or small, that a web presence is a vital communication tool. But being green is more than just being virtual, down the chain web hosts require energy so where to find one that is truly green-minded?

In my own quest I’ve found some great resources that sort through the good, the green and the greenwashers looking at everything from wind-power to sustainable office strategies.

Here are my favorites:

• Plethora of Options for Green Web Hosting: The number of green web hosting options has expanded quite a bit in recent months. Which one should you choose? Well, right now it appears that the primary discriminator is the method by which they power their operation… at TreeHugger
• Nine Wind-Powered Web Hosts: If you’re concerned about the environment and looking for a Web host, you’ll find there’s a growing number of “green” hosting companies in the U.S., Canada and elsewhere. Following are nine Web hosts that reduce their impact on the environment with wind-powered energy or wind-energy offsets… at Suite101
• More Wind and Solar-powered Web Hosting: there are many more hosting providers that are powered by wind or solar (either directly from solar panels and wind turbines, or by buying clean energy credits from the utility company). If you have a website, or are thinking of creating one, please consider green hosting. Have a look at the companies… at TreeHugger

And a nice summary of how to avoid the ‘greenwash’ web hosts:

• Green Web Hosting: When one thinks of the web hosting industry, the word “environmentalism” or “greenie” is not usually the first thing that comes to mind. Since electricity needed to run servers and the cooling servers need uses up a lot of energy, many would think that the web hosting industry is environmentally unfriendly. That would indeed be the case if not for this new revelation that some companies are picking up. This new revelation is known as “green hosting”. Before you jump on the bandwagon and sing the praises of this new hosting strategy that not only serves your webhosting needs but is also good for the environment, there are a few facts that you should know.