Eco Friendly Web Design

[matt.bluestagstudio]

Hey everyone,

We're currently putting together a 'Green Package' for web design and hosting.

I'd be interested to hear some thoughts on how we can achieve this.

Some ideas we've come up with so far:

• Walking/Cycling/Using Public Transport to get to consultations
• Planting a tree for every so many hours of development time (to compensate for electricity usage)
• Monitoring electricity usage and taking appropriate measures to reduce emissions (turning workstations off instead of on standby etc)

Any other ideas would be great.

Also I'd be interested to hear from any eco friendly web hosting companies that can offer some form of guarantee both regarding their green credentials and their server uptime.

And finally any ideas on how we prove the green credentials, whether we need any certification (I've seen ISO 14000 but I think that may be taking it too far for a SME!) and how we go about the legalities.

Mods please feel free to move this, didn't have a clue where to post it!

Cheers,
Matt.

[LOS Design UK]

Good luck with that Matt

BUT I for one have the firm belief that this kind of ethos will not assist in this field.


Why? Because at the end of the day there are 3 key factors to winning a contract (after 6 years experience I have found them to be these...others of course may differ)

1. Price of the project
2. How much it will cost them to get online
3. What is the total amount of the funds I need to transfer

Bear in mind, this is relative to a SME market place not BB.

I just wonder how green (I also feel this is a fad to exploit more cash from those that have it, not you, in general) a website can be when by its own nature it is only available from sources that consume and create their own 'carbon footprint'.

It is a bit like having alcohol free beer...

And my favourite question for all those eco warriors...what wiped out the dinosaurs? It wasn't their Citreon usage was it?
jmtc

[Indizine]

I too looked into the green thing for business and found it was not worth it as I have a ver low carbon footprint anyway, so apart form being naturally careful about the environment and generally efficient about energy saving, there isn't much else you can do that will necessarily make a big difference. Certainly, to say you are working to reduce and maintain a low carvob footrprint is nice, but it doesnt win web-related contracts over the usual things from my research. The cost to sign up to some of these carbon schemes can be quite high so it depends if you think you will get a return on your investment with such associations.

Check out this website. I've spoken several times to the guy that runs this business and he has a couple of different options you could consider.

[matt.bluestagstudio]

Thanks for the linkages!

Yea we want to do it as we're looking to start dealing with the government and we've been told that this might give us a slight edge in winning contracts.

But I'm not really to invest anything other than time and pocket money into it because as you say I doubt it would be what would win us the contract!

It's just nice to offer the cherry sometimes

[LOS Design UK]

Thanks for the linkages!

Yea we want to do it as we're looking to start dealing with the government and we've been told that this might give us a slight edge in winning contracts.

But I'm not really to invest anything other than time and pocket money into it because as you say I doubt it would be what would win us the contract!

It's just nice to offer the cherry sometimes

I like your thinking Matt

Any edge is a good edge in this marketplace.

Good luck Mate

[matt.bluestagstudio]

Any edge is a good edge in this marketplace.

Agreed, I was thinking of offering a free hug with every website. What do you reckon?

[skeeter]

Hi Matt,

with non-government and government organisations you are quite correct about the green thing. Policy is coming through. The brand audit I referred to was in reference to a re-brand covering the trading company. Branding was 20 years old. The 'audit' was put in place to ensure selection of the right providers. This affected web / design / branding / print / everything. It is particularly important for transparency through the process.

Ethos, ethics were very important. I was pocher come game keeper maiking initial assessments on suitability. Again, the "Food thing" I mentioned is exactly the same scenario. You don't get considered unless you meet the basics.

PM me...all the stuff is for SMEs with no cash. It's about good practice not about investment. As you are small (like me), you are able to be flexible and do the right thing. That is one of the great things about SMEs.

Glad to see you enjoy chillie plants too. lol.

[matt.bluestagstudio]

It is a bit like having alcohol free beer...

Yup, I wouldn't drink it myself but companies have made a mint selling it!

People and companies like to have labelled associated with them. If they want to be 'green' and they can have a 'green' website and 'green' web hosting then they can still call themselves 'green'.

In reality it might be that they just fund the planting of the tree, but the 'green' label means a lot.

Same as 'investors in people' (who tend to be the worst employers in my opinion) don't actually invest in people, they just know what to do in order to get the badge.

[skeeter]

Agreed.

There is no reason why a Small Biz can't be what it wants to be and pass on the good. If you're running solely for profit, sounds like a pointless exercise...money for the sake of it. I like what Matt is doing. May as well choose something you like and choose something that benefits more than just the immediate.

I think it's top banana.

[Entro]

Has anyone costed, in carbon, time and monetary terms, what it is costing to fufill expectations of government-green-goody-two-shoe-ness?

You are working in a warmed office, on a computer, using resources so you can say you will save resources; how much is all this feelgoodery costing?

I think the best indicator of how green you should go is price. For instance, now the cost of photovoltaic is coming down it will soon be economically viable to generate your own electricity, rather than just being gesture politics.

Gesture politics actually waste resources which is all a bit the wrong way around really.