Top 20 Ways for Web Developers to Reduce Their Carbon Footprint
Oct 14th in Web Roundups by Glen Stansberry
Climate change is greatly affected by our carbon footprint. As web developers, it may not seem that we make huge "footprints." We read our mail and news online (no paper), communicate with instant messenger and Skype (no stamps or letters), and many of us relax by watching video or TV shows online (no renting/buying physical DVDs). As a whole, web developers do a pretty good job reducing their carbon footprint.
Yet there are plenty of ways that we can reduce our carbon footprints even further and treat Mother Nature a bit better. After all, every little bit helps when it comes to becoming more environmentally responsible.
So here are the top twenty ways that web developers can reduce their carbon footprint each day. They're simple changes, but in the end they make a huge difference.
This post is part of Blog Action Day 2009, a worldwide initiative started by Envato founders Collis and Cyan Ta'eed, now being run by Change.org. Blog Action Day exists to change the conversation on the web for one day by uniting thousands of bloggers around one important issue - this year, Climate Change. It's not too late to register your blog and participate.
1. Turn Off the Computer
While this may be the most obvious solution, it has a huge impact. Many of us leave our computer running 24/7 because it's convenient. Even if your computer is idle or "sleeping", it still needs the battery. Consider completely shutting off the computer when you go to bed at night. While you're at it, switch off the monitor and sound system if you're using them as well.
2. Turn Off your External Hard Drives at Night
People run backups at night because they don't want to use computing resources when they're actually on the computer. However, backup systems have matured considerably in the past few years, and often times a backup can go unnoticed. I run Time Machine backups on my Mac at hourly intervals and hardly ever notice any real resource consumption.
If you're backing up your hard drives at consistent intervals during the day, you probably don't need to run backups when you're asleep as well.
2. Use Eco-friendly Light Bulbs
Energy Star qualified CFL light bulbs use 75 percent less energy than the standard incandescent light bulb and last ten times longer. Start powering your home office (and rest of the house) with eco-friendly light bulbs. It's estimated each light bulb can also save $30 per lightbulb.
3. Use a Green Web Host
There are plenty of interesting green initiatives happening in the hosting industry. Some hosts are planting a tree for each account, others use alternate energy sources to power their servers. Here's a list of eco-friendly web hosts and how they're doing their part to reduce carbon footprints.
4. Switch to Hibernate when Inactive
Allowing your computer to hibernate or sleep when it's inactive helps save resources and energy. Sleep uses a small amount of power to maintain the memory. Hibernate completely powers down the system and saves your settings on the hard disk. Sleep doesn't save as much energy, but it allows your computer to "wake" faster than hibernate. Either way, using a power-saving state can reduce usage of unneeded power.
Microsoft has a great article on the differences between sleep and hibernate, and which situations to use them.
5. Switch to Linux-powered Computers
Did you know that Linux computers can save e-waste levels by 50%? There was a study done in 2004 that reported definite green benefits to running Linux-powered computers. The main reason: Windows systems had to change hardware every 3-4 years, where Linux systems only needed hardware refreshes every 6-8 years. (source)
While the study is five years old (an eternity in technology years), it still leaves something to consider the next time you purchase a computer.
6. Use Blackle
Heap Media created Blackle, an eco-friendly Google search engine. Based on the theory that a black Google could save 750 Megawatt-hours a year, Blackle is just that. It's identical to the real Google with an energy-saving black color scheme. The monitor uses more resources to display white or light screens as opposed to black or dark screens, so the makers of Blackle may be on to something.
7. Switch to LCD
If you're still using that old, clunky CRT monitor, consider switching to a more environmentally-friendly LCD monitor. CRT monitors require more energy and create more heat than LCD. Besides, what web developer or designer needs an excuse to upgrade their monitor?
8. Work from Home
If you can swing it, working from home makes a considerable dent on your carbon footprint. Driving to work uses fossil fuels, and even the bus system uses fossil fuels as well (though not as much as a car). Plus, if you work in an office space, there's another building that has to be heated (or cooled) and lighted.
9. Increase the Life of your Computer
The longer your computer lasts, the less resources you have to consume buying a new one. Routinely checkup and run maintenance to ensure a long and happy life for your computer.
10. Manage your Bills Online
Many web developers already receive their bills online, but if you don't you definitely should. Think about your office trash can and what makes up the major part of the bulk: mail. Junk mail, bills and more junk mail. While the junk mail is kind of hard to stop, receiving bills online can save quite a bit of paper usage. Try to get all of your bills and newsletters in a digital format and save a few trees in the process.
11. Use an Eco-friendly Font
I had to blink a few times to believe it, but there is actually an eco-friendly font that saves on average 20% more ink than other fonts. The makers of Ecofont remove small parts of the letter in order save ink. The parts that are removed are hardly noticeable in print. Ingenious.
12. Rely on Natural Lighting
Natural lighting is better than a lightbulb any day, and can add some warmth to the room as well. Open up those blinds and turn off those overhead lights. You'll have to be careful where you position your computer to make sure there isn't a glare on the monitor, but nothing beats a soft, natural light to fill your workspace.
13. Don't use a Screensaver
Screensavers were initially created to add life to the monitor by keeping phosphors from burning images into an idle monitor. But modern computers don't have these problems, and screensavers are now just a way to personalize your computer. Screensavers still use power, and can even keep your computer from going into a fully-saving power mode.
14. Turn off the Coffee Maker
For those of us that drink coffee, there's an easy way to save energy: turning off the coffee maker. Turn off the warmer when you're done drinking coffee. Oftentimes laziness keeps us from actually switching off the pot when we're finished, and the coffee maker needlessly heats the coffee for hours afterwards. Not only will you save energy, you'll also save your nostrils from the smell of stale coffee burning on the warming plate. Gross.
15. Put on a Sweater
For each degree you lower your heat, you'll save up to 5% in heating costs. So consider dropping the thermostat a couple degrees and putting on a sweater. You'll save money on your heating bill and use less energy and resources in the process.
16. Cut Back on Phantom Power
Phantom power is energy that's wasted by appliances plugged in and using small bits of power while they're not being used. You can use a smart powerstrip that cuts the power when the appliance is off, unplug things when you're done with them, and use devices like the Kill A Watt to monitor energy consumption.
Learn how to reduce phantom power at Treehugger.
17. Make your Sites Printer-friendly
While most of us web ninjas laugh at the prospect of printing a web site, many people still do. If you don't have a printer-friendly version available on all pages, this means that everything on the page is printed, using needless ink on things like design colors and images.
Fortunately, it's pretty simple to add printer-friendly versions of sites. Many modern designs have a separate print stylesheet for printer pages, like so:
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="print.css" media="print" />
You'll notice the media="print" is where the magic happens. About.com has an excellent article on what a print-friendly stylesheet needs to have.
18. Say NO to Styrofoam
If you work in an office, bring your own cup for your coffee instead of using the styrofoam cups. Styrofoam is awful on the environment, mainly because it doesn't decompose like other materials. Even if you recycle the styrofoam, the process takes a very long time and is difficult. Also, styrofoam contains chlorofluorocarbons (CFC's) which hurts the ozone.
In short: styrofoam should be avoided as much as possible. Besides, doesn't a real coffee mug feel so much better in your hands?
19. Add a Plant (or two)
Plants can make a huge difference in a home or office. Aside from the health benefits, plants can improve air quality considerably. A company in New Dehli did a study and added 3 different types of plants to their office building, and found that they could literally "grow their own air". The plants reduced eye irritation, headaches, lung issues, and respiratory system incidents considerably over the course of 15 years. The company also saved energy costs by around 15% thanks to the plants.
20. Use the Library
Instead of buying copies of paper books, check them out at your local library. Most libraries are hooked into an inter-library loan system, so you can find almost any book from your library. How often do you reread all of your books? If you're like me, not very often. Most books are only read once (if at all), and typically just sit on a shelf for show. Instead, show your intelligence by saving paper instead of a filling a bookcase.
User Comments
( ADD YOURS )David Singer October 14th
21. Replace your cheap power supply with a high efficiency one. Especially if your computer will be on all the time.
( )Matt Nolin October 14th
The green web host links doesn’t lead me anywhere helpful
it says ‘Not Found’
Great list otherwise!
( )kodegeek October 14th
Awesome, like this post
( )Padfoot October 14th
Cool, Nice Tips
!
( )Muhammad Adnan October 14th
i liked tips
( )Steve October 14th
You’ve got to be kidding me. An eco-friendly FONT??? Come on – this is getting ridiculous.
( )Ike October 16th
It has been ridiculous for a long time. This whole global warming thing is driving society insane.
( )Paul October 17th
I agree.
Its getting outrageous how much they want to save…especially when there isn’t really that much of a problem.
ddorian October 18th
indeed
dont use presevatives cause they are not eco friendly
Richard S. October 20th
I’ve tried it and it actually works well. I won’t save the enviroment, but at least it saves me money…
( )Doug S. October 14th
Just a note about inter-library loans: The way you can tell if a library is part of the program is if they are state funded, which most public libraries are. Inter-library loaning schemes are usually run through the state.
Another thing to keep in mind is that while not ever book is available, especially not in smaller states like mine (Vermont) a number of libraries are willing to purchase the occasional book if it’s something others might find handy. Books on web design and photography are actually relatively popular so if it’s one of the bigger titles they might consider it.
( )rizzy October 14th
Here is one.
Turn Off Life.
( )Matthew Baker October 14th
From the Google blog:
“We applaud the spirit of the idea, but our own analysis as well as that of others shows that making the Google homepage black will not reduce energy consumption. To the contrary, on flat-panel monitors (already estimated to be 75% of the market), displaying black may actually increase energy usage. Detailed results from a new study confirm this.”
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-black-new-green.html
( )zarabadeu October 16th
That’s right. I also read in a blog (don’t remember which one) that there also an attempt to some companies get money… I promise to take a look and give you the link to check it out…
Ecology now is written like this: €cology. Sad but true…
( )zarabadeu October 16th
my english sucks
T1 Rex October 14th
This is a great list of tips. So many are easy to do and cost nothing but return benefits in lower power bills and reduced carbon footprint.
My post for Blog Action Day is on #16, “Banish Vampires To Reduce Global Warming” at http://t1rex.blogspot.com/2009/10/banish-vampires-to-reduce-global.html
( )Pam - Ryvon Designs October 14th
One of the things we do?
Promote green to our clients. We only respond to an RFP if it will be accepted electronically. We do not respond if it requires a number of printed copies, all mailed or delivered. Saves printing (paper, power and ink) and also shipping/transport carbon footprint.
( )Natrium October 14th
#5. Switch to Linux-powered Computers
not a good idea if you’re an asp.net web developer
( )John October 15th
Mono anyone?
( )Ravi Sankar October 14th
Switch to Windows 7, it has tons of power savings features. Many of the items you have mentioned are automatically taken care in Windows 7.
( )Another solution is to switch to latest hardware with low voltage processor, more efficient power supply, solid state drives and ambient light sensors
Matt October 14th
#5. Switch to Linux-powered Computers
I absolutely cannot believe you just suggested doing that.
( )Jason October 15th
Most of these are pretty trivial, but that was ridiculous.
( )uniqueHR October 14th
#5. Switch to Linux-powered Computers
It’s a well known fact that you can compost linux-powered computers, and use them as heating fuel. I’ve even heard stories that people liquefied them as used them as petrol for their cars.
( )Erik October 15th
#10 and #20 leave me puzzled. Do people still buy into the “use less paper to save trees”? I thought that myth died in the 80s?!
( )Antanas October 15th
could you give me some links into material, where that “myth” is “busted”?
( )Mosselman October 15th
There is no real need to link to any material, simple logic will suffice:
Nowadays paper is mostly created from trees cut from commercial forests, ie forests created for making paper, timber, etc. In fact if you recycle too much paper eventually it won’t be lucerative anymore to grow commercial wood and we would actually start cutting down trees in rainforests again.
Also recycling paper involves the use of a lot of chemicals and heavy machinery. Also, you need to seperate paper and you need to transport it to recycling centers. This costs a lot of energy and money, it also produces a lot of polution in the form of those chemicals and the production of the energy.
If paper would not be seperated from garbage it would rot along with all the other garbage, this would create methane gasses. These gasses are collected at a lot of modern garbage dumps in order to create energy from these gasses.
So in short, recycling paper = bad. Rotting stuff = good.
p.s. If you really want to hear some more there is a Penn & Teller: Bullshit episode on recycling that will explain the rest. I watched the informative episode some while back.
Ryan October 15th
“Also recycling paper involves the use of a lot of chemicals and heavy machinery. Also, you need to seperate paper and you need to transport it to recycling centers. This costs a lot of energy and money, it also produces a lot of polution in the form of those chemicals and the production of the energy.”
Making paper from timber takes much more total energy (and a similar amount of chemicals) than making paper from old paper. Use some common sense.
Michael Meelis October 15th
#11 has a small typo in it. It is called the ecofont and not the echo font
( )Antanas October 15th
I suggest one more : use e-reader (kindle, sony ebook reader) instead real books. especially read-once type books (programming, etc.).
i agree with point about linux – microsoft is adding more fancy (shiny) things , and requires newest pcs, meanwhile linux supports very wide range pcs, plus it can be customized, so linux meets more people needs.
anyway, very nice list!
( )Robert October 15th
With the upcoming release of Win7, you can actually use older hardware to run it. I had the RC running on a 32-bit 2GHz P4 w/ 2 Gigs of RAM that is about 6 years old. Now the PC is Hackintoshed w/Leopard
( )Matt October 15th
“Meets people’s needs” and “Meets a designers needs” are two VERY different needs.
( )Dude October 15th
Wake up people, man-made CO2 hardly influence climate.
( )ms October 17th
Um, you wake up. Electricity comes from coal for most people. Burning coal causes pollution, scrubbers over time have reduced it. Countries with less restrictions have more health problems due to air quality. More coal mining, more energy use. Nuclear energy creates waste that can’t go anywhere but be stored.
reliance on oil means meddling in the middle east, which means trouble.
Or are you going to tell me that there’s no war over our unlimited natural resources??
Whether or not men are influencing global warming, we do influence climate (thankfully we reduced chloroflourocarbons over the past 2-3 decades, we actually made a huge difference in that respect).
I’d rather spend trillions on energy efficiency than wars over energy. Don’t put your politics over real science
( )Joe October 15th
A very different post, I really enjoyed it
( )Stephen Webb October 15th
An excellent range of energy saving tips that we can all benefit from, and all designers should take note of! As energy reduction becomes ever more important tips like these should become daily practises.
Point one seems quite obvious, yet it is surprising just how few people follow this! Along with the fact it saves energy, turning off your computer also has another notable effect – the lack of wear and tear on your system hardware. Having your system continually in use inevitably wears the components down, just like keeping your car engine running, and has the eventual effect of components breaking and needing to be replaced much more frequently. By simply turning off your computer when not in use, the components have minimal wear, thus resulting in minimal maintenance costs!
Thanks for the other great tips, I will be implementing these immediately, as should everyone else! Blog Action Day seems an excellent idea, any further articles relating to this and the issues raised will be of much interest!
( )Stoian Kirov October 15th
I do almost all these stuff, but i didn’t know about the linux-powered machine :>
( )Great tips, thank you!
Keith October 15th
Your eco-friendly-web-host link is broken.
And, I’ll stick with my Mac, thanks. I’m far more productive and can complete projects faster than if I were using Linux – so less time on the computer = eco-friendly
( )Tim October 31st
Isn’t MAC a Unix-based operating system anyway?
I believe the latest MAC books are eco friendly compared to other machines on the market.
( )Bleyder October 15th
This URL doesn’t work:
http://www.webjackalope.com/green-web-hosts/
Good article!
( )lawrence77 October 15th
Amazing tip… :claps:
We should follow these to stop climate change..
The 3rd point link is not worked…
( )Koen Haesaerts October 15th
#6 is only usable with CRT monitors.
Modern TFT panels have a backlight that shines constantly. Its the crystals that allows the light to pass through fully, partially or not at all.
( )Vernon October 15th
Great tips! Except, I can’t visit the library and get books on my Kindle. Oh well… at least I’m still saving some trees (not really sure about that though because it’s not like they print 1 less book than they intended because I’m not buying it).
( )Paddy October 15th
Nice Post, I would like to add:
Use a Notebook instead of a stationary Computer .
( )They consume a lot less energy!
Robert October 15th
Actually, Notebooks will use more energy because desktops have better airflow, more room between components and there are better after-market cooling systems to make them even more efficient. Notebooks, while more compact and lighter, have power bricks that give off excess heat. They also use hardware that runs slower as well as produce a good deal of heat which can cause the notebook to run harder and use more energy.
( )nutral October 26th
not quite, notebooks use smaller and more energy efficient parts, its true that the are slower but most people don’t really need a faster computer.
Noteboks are also smaller so that means that the heat is harder to pull out of the notebook, that doesn’t mean it is less efficient. power bricks are also put into normal computers but because normal computers are bigger and the cooling sufficient they don’t need to be as efficient as normal laptops.
Where normal laptops are 45/50w computers draw near the 150watts just becouse laptops are smaller and every part has to be more efficient so the laptop doesn’t heat up too much.
Addsmore October 15th
Imagine if these sentences would appear in brand advertisements? Imagine if they would give 10% of their advertisement space for messages that would teach the public how to reduce their carbon emission?
( )The impact would be huge. But we need to put pressure on brands so that they take action in this fight.
How can people help us? By writing on their hands, arms climate preservation messages and send to us the pics – either via http://www.facebook.com/addsmore and/or http://www.twitter.com/addsmore
Once we get as many pictures as possible we shall send them to all big brands and try to get to use their advertisement space… just for the planet!
chrisberthe October 15th
lol, an ecofont.
( )Walter Root October 15th
#5 btw MAC is based on linux
but when u buy regular PC u can spend more money for buing PLANTS (#19). imho ROFL
( )Robert October 15th
Mac is based BSD (unix) not linux.
( )Aaron October 15th
This is the dumbest title I’ve seen. I could care less about reducing as you call it my “carbon footprint.” It’s all a scam and a fad.
However, I think you have some good and valid tips, so I appreciate that. But maybe the title needs a bit more work cause I’m not believing that crap.
( )Tom Birch October 15th
Please mate, the world would be better without people like you – whilst not wanting to start a climate war, don’t go around proclaiming it’s “fad”, just hop back into your souped-up pick up truck and go away.
( )ms October 17th
so it’s a scam and a fad to save money on energy bills? Ok, whatever you say bud. So we have endless oil and coal energy reserves to power everything we choose? And no burning of carbon materials does anything to our atmostphwere?
What we do affects our world, what we consume, products we buy, choices made. Many ecosystems are worse off because of humans, and to be lean and mean, and survive on less waste is the only way to go.
( )Eric October 15th
How ’bout you stop exhaling too. Am I really paying you guys for this BS? Get on with serious Tut’s, not this crap!
( )Mosselman October 15th
Hold on, they use sources like ‘treehugger.com’ that has to count for something.
( )DeMtnMan October 15th
My understanding is that even when computers, monitors, TVs, etc are turned off, they still draw up to half the electricity they use when on. So unplugging them completely can have an even greater impact. I simply flip the switch on my power strip to turn off all juice into the system when off (unless I need to charge my laptop).
( )Whether one cares about reducing their carbon footprint or not, it can’t be denied that many of the practices that do so also decrease energy costs; this being the primary motive for large corporations to go “green”. Even if the bottom dollar is the reason, it’s still a good outcome.
chilinaz October 15th
some power strips don’t completely cut off the power – especially power strips that have lights and internal gizmos… I do the same thing, but some things need to be unplugged completely.
I think this is a good article. Thanks, Glen.
( )Mosselman October 15th
This post is amongst the least interesting and most useless I have seen anywhere on the internet.
It is a hard thing to do considering you are competing against any youtube video posted by a 14 year old american teenagers, people blogging about their pet’s ‘funny’ activities and celebrity gossip.
( )Juan C Rois October 15th
You bring an interesting point there, I read the other day that YouTube is serving a billion videos per day.
( )I admit I watch a video every now and then and even posted a few videos myself, BUT IT IS DISTURBING THAT SO MANY PEOPLE ARE WASTING THEIR TIME JUST WATCHING SILLY VIDEOS. Granted the site serves other more meaningful uses, but I don’t even want to imagine the amount of energy(resources) that is consumed by users just by wasting time on videos. It would be a much better world if all that time us put to good use instead of watching videos.
Just my 2 cents.
Jesse October 15th
The tips in this article are fine, but you guys came at this from a highly controversial slant on a hotly debated issue.
Bad idea. Stay neutral, tuts+.
( )Ozon3 October 15th
Excellent !
( )sacarias October 15th
One of your most interesting ideas was the one about going to the library. I really like that idea, but don’t go to return your books to the library during the first snow of the season, your books will get wet and they will try to charge you.
Another reason why i like that subject is because getting books from the library is how i tough myself everything i know about web design and development.
( )Christian October 15th
Using energy for something you aren’t benefiting from is a waste (i.e. Phantom Power) since that could go to power something else, but if you are trying to “save the planet” buy taking these steps, then you are being foolish. It is costing you money (e.g. a “Green Web Host” is going to charge you more in order to purchase carbon offsets (a scam)) as well as reducing your comfort (e.g. lowering the temperature, cleaning up the toxic hazard from a broken CFL, etc). All this for NO CONFIRMED FACT THAT DOING THESE THINGS PRODUCES THE RESULT OF SAVING THE PLANET (yelling necessary).
( )Ironically, #19, adding a plant, is the ultimate “carbon offset” which really occurs naturally. The more carbon there is (human-caused or otherwise) the more plants grow.
And please don’t forget the approximate 3/4 ton of carbon a year you are outputting by exhaling…
Natalia Ventre October 15th
There’s too much miss information regarding ecology. Turning off the computer and choosing a green host apply to developers and make sense. Using power saving light bulbs is for everybody, it doesn’t matter if you are a developer or not, but in my personal experience, I haven’t notice a saving in the power bill. Thanks Glen for bringing this topic into discussion.
( )ms October 17th
I have seen a huge difference in my bills. Saving over a hundred dollars a year with a few bulb changes. Sadly most homes are terribly inefficient and so there’s a lot of work involved before you’ll make big gains. a large cost, people can’t justify making.
( )Adardesign October 15th
this is a stupidity, i was sure you people are not caught with this stupid thoughts!
this issue is made for liberals not for developers
( )Marcos Cerutti October 15th
Im really sorry for you mate! that’s this selfish way to act that drove us to the rubbish. Please, stay proud to your point and watch your kids die in a decadent world!
( )Adardesign October 21st
Soon there will be Laws on “How much children is allowed per family” or “How much we may eat daily” in order to “Save Earth”
selfish?
Come on! there is a master of the world that takes care!
and NO you where not born by explosion, you must be a radical believer to believe that everything happened with a chemical reaction etc.
It is very easy (without thinking) to believe that everything happened by itself.
And btw in Germany during the early 1940’s there where protests against testing medicine on animals, and i don’t have to tell you what they did in the same time.
mike October 17th
What are “liberals”?
( )Mark Dijkstra October 15th
Pretty cool stuff
Thanks
( )chad October 15th
11. Use an Eco-friendly Font
I don’t think this does anything for the web developer.
( )Mark Sanborn October 15th
I liked your article and wanted to make it better by suggesting that you remove number 6. A black background on google does NOT save energy.
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-black-new-green.html
( )Brandon October 15th
So, I am supposed to purchase new things and throw away the old, and that is better for the environment? Any data on this?
( )Sam McCarthy October 15th
No – the author suggests replacing old monitors because they less efficient than those available nowadays. But also suggests to regularly clean up your computer to prevent it from becoming slow and unuasable.
( )John Deszell October 15th
I love this article. I try and be as green as I can. I’ve gone through the extra work of taking scrap paper, old magazines, drink cups, etc I accumulate at work and dropping them off at the recycling center with my own personal waste.
If only the rest of the people in my office did this or the world for that matter
( )Stephen Ainsworth October 15th
How will this make me a better web developer?
( )Robert October 15th
exactly…
( )Meshach October 15th
This is ridiculous.
( )Marcos Cerutti October 15th
No man, it won’t make us better developers, it will help us to grow as human beens, and we will play our part, to help the planet to survive a bit more. Isn’t it enough?
( )Stephen October 16th
Sorry my bad I thought this was a web developmen’ts tutorial/resource/article website. Nex week’s article > How to look good at work and impress your boss!
Benjamin October 17th
+1
exactly my thoughts…
( )Pallab October 15th
Nice list. However, you may want to remove Blackle from the list. On CRT monitor the effect is either negative or none.
( )Here is my entry : http://www.pallab.net/2009/10/15/fight-climate-change-five-ways-you-can-make-a-difference/
sebastienr October 15th
Quite True ! And on LCD monitor, it does not effect too ! You still consume energy !
( )Brett October 15th
dumb post
( )Mahmoud kamal October 15th
hi good job
( )Meshach October 15th
This article is BAD.
( )Nori Silverrage October 15th
Huh… Well not to be negative but this article seems a waste of time. Anyone who is mildly energy conscious would know almost all, if not all, of this stuff.
Also, a lot of sites would never get printed… So.. yeah
( )Oh and global warming is a bunch of crap (in the last couple years the avg. temperatures have reverted to the point they were at 100 years ago), not that that should keep us from being energy conscious or anything, since you can you know save money and everything.
Flashparry October 15th
So how do you explain the shrinking polar ice cap?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8307272.stm
( )Matt October 15th
Have you ever heard of the ice age? Well, there was a brief warming period before it that helped melt the polar ice caps. Animals had nothing to do with it, it’s just something the Earth does from time to time. We’re actually pretty close to the next one.
Nori Silverrage October 19th
Natural fluctuation in temperature, we haven’t been monitoring temperature for very long, so who can say that there isn’t a few hundred year warming and cooling period…Also a single solar burp from the sun can alter the temperature on Earth. A volcanic eruption releases more stuff into the air than all the man made pollution.
Tracesix October 15th
Is It only me that finds it weird that envato advertises to go green.. yet all of theeir sites are white? Maybe a go green dark design?
( )Matt October 15th
On CRT’s, Black uses roughly the same amount of power as white, from my tests. Black uses the most power on LCD’s since black requires all the crystals on the monitor to block all light.
( )Chris October 15th
This article shouldn’t of even made its way too this website!
Whoever put this on here, please remove it, I anit certainly going to do anything, if this planet dies, it dies.
( )truth October 15th
too bad there is no man made global warming
( )Nick Brown October 15th
Hell, why not make all web pages black, with black font. People can just highlight something if they want to read it.
Answer: Because it’s poor design.
Eco-friendly font? Whole Foods wouldn’t even print that.
( )Nick Brown October 15th
Also, I propose we keep our computers turned off until the last possible moment.
Complete your design on an etch-a-sketch and only power on your computer when it’s time to turn it into a PSD.
( )Matt October 15th
Again, Black = BAD
Black uses the most amount of power on modern computer monitors.
( )nutral October 26th
but it uses the least amount of energy on plasma screens and the difference in plasma screens is a lot bigger than in tft screens.
Bas October 15th
A welcome change with a little food for thought too. Thanks.
( )Connor Crosby October 15th
I cannot believe there is an eco-friendly font! Wow, what will people come up with next?
( )Eco-warrior October 15th
Only visit NetTuts once in a while to save some Eco-Visits.
( )Ciro October 15th
http://www.eco4planet.com
Another great initiative
( )sam October 15th
To be even more Eco-friendly you can stop writing dumb tuts like this that waste everyone’s time..lol
( )Eric October 15th
How about we stop screwing around and fire up the freaking Nuclear power plants instead of putting up these eye soar windmills?
Being environmentally conscious is fine, but the extreme environmentalist are the new robber baron’s (Al Gore) making money on our collective over reactive nature.
Tut’s Please stay out of politics and useless movements and stick to what you do best.
( )Jen October 18th
I always find it funny that people think those windmills are an eye soar, I love them, I think they are a beautiful piece of engineering.
( )desu October 15th
Wow… our topic not only for web development but also enviroment that relate for the web
Nice…!
( )Jose Fernandez October 15th
The general power saving ideas are mostly valid. However some of these suggestions are pretty questionable.
Power benefits from Linux computers based on needing to upgrade less often? Silly.
Encouraging the use of a black background Google while using a white background on your own site? Fail.
Are there are IT people who don’t manage most of their bills online? Sad.
Each degree you lower your heat saves up to 5% in heating costs? Uh huh.
Apparently I’m more eco-friendly than most people – I don’t drink coffee. That covers 10% of these suggestions right there.
( )Matt October 15th
Again, I just have to emphasize how incredibly stupid this article is. I’m not going to choose sides on the debate, for the scope of this post, it doesn’t matter, this is what I have a problem with:
5. Switch to Linux-powered Computers:
Because they update less? This is absolutely stupid. The reason people trash computers for new ones is not because their hardware is not “good” enough for a new OS, it’s because a normal person will choose to buy a new computer every 3 – 5 years. It’s one of those plans that normal people/families have. It has nothing to do with the Operating System.
Proof? XP has been around for nearly a decade. Don’t tell me that Windows requires people to upgrade their PC every couple of years. My 7 year old HP with a 1.8GHz P4 (single core) runs XP JUST FINE with 256MB RAM.
6. Use Blackle
Google ran a black web page for ONE DAY. The reason they didn’t stick with it is because they KNEW that black screens would consume TOO MUCH POWER. The majority of users have LCD screens, which would need the crystals to block all light, causing the monitor to use even more power.
Use Blackle, you will use MORE energy than if you used Google.
Capped for emphasis.
7. Switch to LCD
Nothing wrong with switching to LCD, but since you mentioned it with BLACKLE, it’s a contradiction of itself. LCD’s use more power displaying black than white.
20. Use the Library
The worst thing you could do is try to emphasize the market of paper. You should have said…
20. Use an E-Book Reader and a service such as Amazon.
It takes a lot of power to create paper, and one of the best things you can do is to ditch it altogether. The library is great, but the best it will do is save you money.
( )Daquan Wright October 15th
I just installed vista on my laptop and I’m wanting a desktop even faster because my system just doesn’t seem all that stable right now, so I wouldn’t talk so fast. =P
( )Matt October 16th
You made a point without making a point.
I fail to understand what you just said. If you’re saying “Linux is more stable than Vista”. One, your hardware sucks. Two, be careful of which Linux distro you’re talking about. I’ll have sound one day, and not have it the next. My hardware doesn’t suck, it just that infighting is a constant battle in GNU/Linux, and leaves many computers hurting in the process.
Jack Bauer October 16th
To celebrate the stupidity of the environmentalists, I’ll reduce my carbon footprint by unsubscribing from this blog.
( )Jeffrey Way October 16th
If that’ll make you feel like a big boy, feel free!
( )Matt October 16th
Jeffrey, seriously, you’re a cool guy. I really respect you as a very smart guy, and a good editor. But, please, take heed of many of the comments. There are points within the article that are inaccurate by a bit, such as the LCD one (when people should be buying LED’s, not LCD’s), or ones that are incredibly polar opposite of what it claims, such as Blackely, which will cause MORE damage in the long run than those using Google. The claims from sites such as Blackle are false, at best. I’ll give them the BOTD and assume that they are talking about LED’s or CRT’s, but the majority of people have LCD’s, and they will use more power per pixel than those displaying white, which use almost no power per pixel.
Nick Tulett October 16th
Bit silly to suggest all of that and ignore the consequences of developers’ work – how much greenery is in danger from lazy attitudes to caching, gzipping, minifying and trimming your sites’ contents down to the bare minimum? How many electrons and photons are wasted sending duplicate files round the tubez because noone bothered to check once the site was “working”?
Besides that, global warming is bad science based on shonky measurements, props from scientists who aren’t climatologists and supported whole-heartedly by politicians once they realised it was an excuse to raise taxes and energy prices – it’s about as believable a threat as witchcraft, communism, WMDs and global terrorism.
( )bud October 17th
????
So you’re saying that politicians affect the price of gas? Because evidence says otherwise. Also EVIDENCE that is believable DOES point to man-made global warming. However I’ll rely on the experts rather than Nick Tulett to make it as definitive is possible. Fortunately, real scientists all over the world, have a passion for figuring out what is happening in climate change and why. I’d safely say the majority are not politically motivated, just like your political leanings don’t make you a web developer / tester. Your interests do.
Witchcraft – I agree, no evidence for that.
WMD’s. They do exist. Western powers have sold enough of them to developing countries too have some concerns over them too.
Global Terrorism: Well we know terrorists exist, we know many forms of terrorism takes place nearly all over the world unfortunately. Now the so-called “war on terror” is one I’d have to question the methods. But I’m on expert on it so I don’t make strong claims on that.
I do like your ideas on caching and zipping. I need to do that and I’ve been lazy on it.
( )Jason October 16th
I usually never comment here, but this is absolutely ridiculous to be on this site. I cannot believe this was even published here.
( )crypta October 17th
very good article, wise thinking!
( )e-sushi design October 17th
So simple, yet so cool. Inspires me for sure! Thanks for posting this thing (even when I’m a bit late discovering it).
Love to see more of this stuff!
( )Daniel Groves October 17th
It’s interesting how we both picked exactly the same thing to look at for Blog Action Day 2009, yet both came up with completely different points.
( )kaxi October 17th
oh my god. point 20 is the most stupid thing i have ever read.
( )Jen October 19th
Why? Unless maybe like me you have tourettes and live about 30 miles from your nearest Library. In which case, yes it would be daft, as the petrol involved in getting there and back would be silly and then I would probably only get chucked out! But if you lived nearer then why not? I think people have forgotten all about Libraries in the new digital era. I used to love going to the library as a kid.
( )Benjamin October 17th
You guys must have missed business 101… never EVER talk about religion or politics with business associates – especially clients.
If I was running this place, I’d take this post down immediately. It has already tarnished Tutsplus reputation with numerous viewers here who have commented, not to mention the ones who took a look at this post and may have completely written you off entirely…
( )Jen October 18th
I think you make some valid points that we all forget about sometimes, I know I often leave my mac running for days. Some are a bit silly like the ecofont, that made me laugh.
but hey you still managed to find 20 things so good on you.
I have read all the comments as I did wonder how a post like this would go down. I think overall people have been fairly accepting. Considering how often this blog is updated, if there is on occasion something that is not of interest to me I would just not read it. And besides its not like you guys chose that Blog Action day should be about Climate Change.
So I say good on you for getting involved.
( )Sam Logan October 18th
Great set of tips, I was surprised by the eco-fonts!
( )Me October 23rd
Lame article
( )Chriss October 24th
DAMN a lot of posts, and what I think is a very important information can’t get enough exposure
Well, here it is:
( )Carbon footprint does not cause the global warming. The sun causes it, NASA researchers say. They observed that on other planets of the solar system, where ice was present (like Mars), now the ice has partialy melted. Well, don’t know a link for this information, but google it and you may find something…
Second information, also scientific confirmed, just 1 big ship pollutes as much as 50 million cars http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/09/shipping-pollution
Sasha Balsht, Greenscroll October 25th
Nice article! I would invite all web developers to join Greenscroll – non-profit that greening the WEB.
( )Merrick October 27th
NetTuts it’s taking everything I have to not unsubscribe from this blog. What does this have to do with web development? Maybe open a new blog to push the personal agendas: EnviroPlus
( )SIku October 29th
Great List
Thanks
( )Fensonism November 1st
Instead of buying books, get the eBooks and read them from your Nook/Kindle.
( )Johan November 6th
Use a black deskop background.
Use Black backgrounds on websites.
( )nongreen November 7th
I like my carbon footprint but thanks anyway
( )Nightfirecat November 12th
There are 2 #2’s?..
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