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When considering your businesses sustainable and eco-friendly habits, your digital usage may not be your first thought. However, research has shown that the internet contributes more to global pollution than the entire aviation industry. It is proven that currently, emissions related to the internet were at 3.7% in 2023 and are estimated to rise to 5.5% by 2026. 

The shift towards using digital platforms more within business was significantly accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to an increase in online meetings, businesses developing their online presence, and more reliance on social media. At RJM Digital we highlight to individuals and businesses numerous ways of considering the environmental impact of their online usage and to explore new strategies to reduce their digital carbon footprint to align with their companies sustainability goals.

But why does the internet produce so much carbon?

A significant source of internet emissions that often goes unnoticed is data centres. These massive facilities, filled with servers and storage devices like hard drives and SSDs, operate continuously, day and night. However, once these machines begin generating substantial heat, their performance and lifespan can diminish, and in some instances create a fire risk.

In Dubai, where the climate is predominantly hot, managing the temperature within the data centres is so important. As a result, immense cooling systems are put in place to maintain optimal conditions for the devices, albeit this significantly increases energy consumption.

Additionally, for redundancy and disaster recovery, identical setups are scattered not only across the UAE but also globally. The necessity of this infrastructure is completely understandable, as a brief outage could be disastrous for major institutions like banks. These extra data centres for backup contribute to an increase in energy usage, often powered by fossil fuels, even when they are idle and unused. 

What can businesses do to help?

In Dubai, especially since COP28, companies are increasingly aware of their environmental impact and many are seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint. While many businesses in Dubai may not manage their own data centres or network infrastructure, often relying on cloud services from global giants like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, you do have control over your website. There are excellent tools available where you can enter your website's URL to receive an emissions score, such as https://websiteemissions.com/ and https://www.websitecarbon.com/. With this information, you can collaborate with a web developer, like RJM Digital, to implement the recommended changes, enhancing your site's efficiency. 

It’s important to rely on credible organisations, The Green Web Foundation, based in the Netherlands, independently audits and certifies tech suppliers on their environmental claims. They also offer a free tool to check if your website is powered by green or sustainable energy.

What else can we do to help?

As business owners, we know that everyone wants to play their part. Here are some of our quick wins that can make a difference

1. Stop being so nice and scrap the ‘Thank you’ emails! For business users, email is by far the largest individual tech resource that has the largest impact on energy consumption and carbon emissions. Tim Berners-Lee calculated that a typical business user creates 135 kg CO2e from sending emails every year, which is the equivalent of driving 300 Km in a family car. But it should be easy to cut this down. If everyone sent one less “thank you” email, it could save a significant amount of carbon a year. Our mums would always say to us, it doesn’t cost anything to say your “pleases or thank yous” but it does if you are trying to save the planet!

2. Swap the attachments for a link. The above also applies when sending attachments – the amount of times people receive the same attachment, either by CC’d or Forwarded, this duplication of data can be huge but easily resolved. It’s best to upload it to a Dropbox or One Drive and share an online link.

3. Unsubscribe from irrelevant newsletters. Lastly, I’m sure we all have tons of unwanted emails, newsletters for products or services that you can’t even remember using! The average user receives 2,850 unwanted emails every year from subscriptions, which are responsible for 23Kg of CO2 . So spend some time to unsubscribe from these emails and reduce your CO2 emissions. 

Why does this all matter? 

Because collectively, our choices have a massive effect. If you can take anything away from this, is that you will use digital services by companies that are committed to being net zero, or just send one less “Thank you” email, we can help mitigate climate change and create a more sustainable future for all.

So, now you are aware of the sheer impact the internet has on the environment and climate change and understand the steps you and your business can take to help to reduce the carbon emissions the internet produces overall. 

For more information on how to ensure your website stays sustainable visit our sustainable websites page or book a discovery call to speak to a member of our team.