'Net Features : environment

Five Easy Ways to Go Green on the Web

Michael Garrity — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 14:00:00 GMT

Happy Earth Day, loyal Website Magazine readers!

Some say that it ain’t easy going green, and that sentiment certainly rings true when you’re talking about a Web business. However, if you know where to look, there are actually plenty of ways that you can curb your energy consumption and make your website more environmentally friendly.

Green Hosting
Most of the energy consumption that takes place on the Web comes from hosting. After all, it takes a lot to host and manage all of the data from all of the websites out there on the ‘Net. However, some more forward-thinking hosting companies have begun to turn to green hosting, wherein they purchase Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) that are powered by wind energy to offset the amount of energies used by their servers.

Don’t know how to find a green hosting provider? Never fear, our editorial staff compiled a list of some of the best right here.

Green Partners
Businesses can also take steps themselves to curb their energy use. Two of the best are by working with the EPA’s Green Power Partnership and the Energy Star program.

The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program in which partnering businesses can buy green power to reduce the environmental impact of their purchased electricity use. The EPA provides the businesses with expert advice, tools and resources and credibility through publicity and recognition for their green-inspired efforts.

Energy Star is a joint program from the EPA and the Department of Energy that partners with businesses to offer an energy management strategy that measures their current energy performance, sets goals, tracks their savings and rewards their improvements.

Simple Site Design
It’s no secret that the more bells and whistles you add to your website, the more energy it is going to take to display it. So why not tone it down, cut out the unnecessary frills and keep your design as simple as possible so that your business’ message is still clearly stated and your site is still interactive and useful for audiences.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to keep as much of the content of your Web pages above the fold, because then users won’t have to continue to scroll down and continue rendering the page, which constantly increases the amount of energy needed just to view a single page.

Printer-Friendly = Environment-Friendly
Sometimes people just need to print things out, and with stellar content like yours, it’s bound to happen. However, you can lessen the environmental impact and save a few trees by designing a printer-friendly version of your Web pages, especially those that you think are more likely to be printed.

You can do this by making an alternate version of the page that users can click on before printing. Some characteristics of a printer-friendly Web page are: They are black and white only, use a small-sized, serif face font, free of unessential images, JavaScript, Flash, animation and navigation (and sometimes advertising) and include a copyright notification and the original URL at the bottom of the page.

Be a Green Advocate
If nothing else, it probably doesn’t take much to put an image on your site encouraging and reminding your visitors of the importance of going green. A simple, tasteful logo will show off your commitment to an energy-conscious future, and hopefully influence your visitors to do the same.

Commission Junction Offers Green Products

Mike Phillips — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:27:00 GMT

Commission Junction, one of the largest affiliate networks around has added "green" categories to their impressive list of offerings. Environmentally-friendly products are in high demand with consumers, a trend that has been steadily growing for years and shows no signs of slowing down. This development provides a nice way for affiliates to diversify their offerings and could open an entirely new marketing channel. It also provides advertisers with a new way to reach out to publishers who focus on green products and services.

The categories in which green products can be found include:

Beauty
Clothing/Apparel
Computer and Electronics
Food and Drinks
Gifts and Flowers
Health and Wellness
Home and Garden (includes Energy Saving and Recycling)
Recreation and Leisure
Travel

Publishers can search for green products at Commission Junction through Get Links>General Categories.

Advertisers can contact Commission Junction to get their products included in the green index.

Green-up Your Business

Mike Phillips — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:07:00 GMT

Every little bit helps when it comes to protecting the environment. And everyone needs to do their part, right?

Here are some resources to help get your business running green ... even your website.

The Green Office: Provides listings of green products for your office - everything from recycled paper to eco-friendly office furniture. There are also links to webinars and tips for making your office a little more environmentally friendly.

CO2stat.com: According to this site, electricity generation required for information and communication techologies (ICT) is now responsible for 2% of global CO2 emissions, exceeding the emissions of the entire aviation industry. This site examines your website and everything related for its carbon footprint and helps you reduce it.

SustainableBusiness.com: Here you can find green industry news, green stocks and networking opportunities with green organizations and businesses. Also provides other green resources and a free e-newsletter.

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