One way I do this is to encourage clients to use the web as a marketing tool instead of creating printed marketing materials. Paper products constitute the largest portion of our waste stream (about 35%), not to mention the toxic pollutants used in printing inks. I certainly don't want any trees cut down for my design projects, so using web marketing instead can certainly reduce resource usage and pollution. But I often wonder if the web is really more sustainable…

Web sites certainly don't require paper, but the site files have to be stored somewhere. This is where web hosts come in: they store web site files on their servers so they can be accessed all over the world via the internet. Servers reside in data centers, which are secure facilities that store large servers and other equipment. Data centers are often climate-controlled and hooked up to backup power sources in order to protect the sensitive equipment and data they contain. As you can imagine, this adds up to a lot of energy usage, and most energy in the grid does not come from renewable sources.

Thankfully, there are quite a few web hosting companies that use renewable energy sources to power their data centers or offset their energy usage by investing in renewable sources of energy. These companies are helping to "green the web" by offering sustainable hosting solutions. Here are just a few companies that I found:

• I host my personal sites with Sustainable Websites, who purchase 100% of their power usage equivalent for servers and office equipment in wind-powered Renewable Energy Certificates.
• Acorn Host also purchases Green Certificates to offset 100% of their server and office equipment energy usage. They offer a discount on hosting for non-profit organizations that benefit the community.
• AISO actually produces their own solar power for their office and data center, and they even used green building techniques for their data server building.
• Sustainable Hosting purchases 11,552 kilowatt hours worth of Green-e certified renewable energy certificates yearly to offset the energy used by their web servers and office.
• ecoSky relies on renewable energy credits for their server's power, and they generate solar energy on-site to power their administrative office.
• Elfon purchases wind power through Utah's Blue Sky program to offset their server and office energy usage (as well as the home energy usage of their founders), and offers discounts for customers who also buy renewable energy.
• ThinkHost offsets 100% of their server and office energy usage with solar and wind power credits. They also offer discounts or free hosting to non-profit and activist organizations.

These are just a few of the many companies offering sustainable web hosting. Many of them are committed to reducing their environmental impact in other ways as well, such as allowing staff to tele-commute, implementing office recycling programs, or using energy-efficient electronics in their offices. I encourage you to do your own research on sustainable web hosting companies as well.

Now I can offer my clients even more sustainable design solutions, and invest in alternative energy at the same time! Green life is good.

More Links: TreeHugger's list of green web hosts, Green Server's list of green web hosts