Green Web Hosting: Choose An Eco-Friendly Hosting Provider For Your Digital Project
There are a number of ways that you could explore for your business in terms of helping to save the environment. One of such ways is to consider green hosting especially if you are running a green business. This way, your company would be just as concerned with its carbon footprint as its bottom line. You should also consider this option if your office has turned recycling into an art form. Let us take a deeper look at this important phenomenon.

What Is Green Web Hosting?
Green web hosting is a greener, more environmentally friendly way to host websites. Most green web hosting companies aim to provide high-quality services while doing everything they can to limit their carbon emission.
A common approach is to produce an equivalent or a greater amount of energy than what is being consumed and return that energy to the grid. A company can generate energy using renewable power technologies like solar and wind. Those technologies are prime examples of green energy production and two of the most environmentally friendly methods of generating electricity.
One of the first things you need to do with regards to green hosting is to evaluate your priorities. You need to take a look at the things that are important to you. If for the most part, your green business is very much concerned about the saving of trees, then you must select a green hosting service that normally operates a paperless office. It could also be that they even plant a tree for each new client that signs up. What you can also do is to make your company very active in the efforts to conserve fuel and then also be able to cut pollutants. In case you are able to do this, you should then select a company that normally encourages the employees to cut down on their transportation on a daily basis and rather commute to work.
Green Web Hosting Certification Types
There are many levels of green certification from different certification bodies. Still, the two main types of certifications related to green web hosting are Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) and Carbon Offset Certificates (VER).
Renewable Energy Certificates (REC)
These are commonly known as Green tags, although you might also see them referred to as Renewable Electricity Certificates or Tradable Renewable Certificates.
In the US, these certificates prove that a full 1 megawatt-hour of electricity has been generated from a renewable energy source and fed back into the electricity grid. This ensures that the power used by a web hosting facility has been replaced by a renewable electricity provider.
Carbon Offset Certificate (VER)
Think of carbon offset as a way to make up for carbon created due to energy generation and consumption. For web hosting companies with large installations inside data centers, it makes sense to get certified with carbon offsets. It’s an effective way to ensure that their energy usage complies with the rules of the country where they operate.

Recycling is another good way to get a carbon offset certificate, and it can help reduce an organization’s carbon footprint.
Apart from this, you need to come to terms with the main differences that lie in the hosting services. The green hosting services should be able to use renewable or alternative resources like biogas, solar, wind or geothermal energy to power their data centres. Generally, there are about two main kinds of green hosting companies. The first kind is those companies that would actually generate their own power straight from the renewable energy. There is another kind of hosting company that buy Renewable Energy Certificates like that of Dreamhost and they also ensure that the power that they utilize is produced in such a way that it is not dangerous to the planet.
What Are the Advantages of Green Web Hosting?
Green web hosting provides multiple benefits to your business and the environment. Let’s explore three main advantages of a green hosting plan.
Harmless to the Environment
The major advantage of green web hosting is that it’s completely harmless and damage-free to our planet. It is a safe and sustainable way to power websites and share data and a great way to contribute towards reducing your carbon footprint on the environment.
Whether you’re helping the environment by reducing the web host’s carbon footprint or contributing power back into the grid, green web hosting means interacting more positively with the environment.
Less Expensive Than Conventional Hosting
Green web hosting is not just eco-friendly but also cost-effective. It’s a cheaper option for running your servers than regular hosting. Standard web hosting consumes much electricity, making its service and package costs pricier.
Meanwhile, green hosting is powered by a renewable sources of energy like solar and wind, which slashes its running costs. This results in reduced and cheaper hosting package costs for the client.
But don’t assume you’ll get a compromised set of options if you choose a green hosting plan. By choosing to go green, you’ll get an equally well-rounded and fully optimized web hosting package as any other conventional plan, which includes all types of hosting plans, including WordPress hosting. You’ll also get site security, backups, domain name, email, and more.
Green web hosting offers dedicated servers and shared servers. So you get a complete range of options, including shared hosting, VPS hosting, and Managed WordPress Hosting.
Great for Your Business Profile
Opting for an eco hosting provider is fantastic for your company’s reputation and profile. By endorsing green web hosting for your domain name, you’re endorsing sustainable living and working practices, which adds brownie points to your profile. It creates a great impression in the professional market and on your clients. It indicates that you’re part of the global community of conscious change-makers who want to protect their environment.
Moreover, there is the need to investigate your options. Nowadays, there are a number of companies offering green hosting services that appeal to green businesses. This is especially the case when these green businesses are looking for additional ways to reduce the environmental impact of their daily operations. With the advent of the internet, it is possible to find a number of websites to get an initial feel of what these websites generally offer. You would also be able to find out the ones which would be a good choice for your green business website.
Read:
- What is green hosting and why is it important?
- GreenGeeks VPS Review, Is It Right for Your Site?
- Saving the planet with green web hosting
It is important to note that some of the companies on the internet would even be able to offer discounts to those clients who use their own websites to support the causes that relate to the environment. There is no doubt that the cost would also be a crucial issue. You need to decide on how much you want to spend before choosing the right company that would meet your budgetary needs.