TEST - How to measure and reduce your website’s carbon footprint
Discover how to measure your website’s carbon footprint and take practical steps to reduce its environmental impact
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Introduction
Taking steps to reduce your website’s carbon footprint is often overlooked, yet it can play a meaningful role in your business’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
In 2024, Crafts Council carried out a carbon footprint audit of our own website to better understand the environmental impact of our digital operations. The process revealed a number of simple, practical changes we could take - from removing unused files to rethinking our hosting choices.
Here we're sharing the practical insights and recommendations we uncovered, empowering you to build a more environmentally friendly digital presence for your business.
Why sustainable web design matters
Digital technology accounts for approximately 3.7% of global greenhouse gas emissions (a figure comparable to that of the airline industry). Although data centres are becoming more energy-efficient, the rapid growth of internet use and the increasing energy demands of artificial intelligence are outpacing those gains.
Sustainable web design is an approach to designing web services that puts people and planet first. It delivers digital products and services that respect the principles of the Sustainable Web Manifesto: clean, efficient, open, honest, regenerative and resilient.
What is a website carbon footprint audit?
A website carbon footprint audit is an evaluation of the energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions throughout the lifecycle of a website. When conducting an audit of your website, you would assess various factors that contribute to energy usage, from the server your website is hosted on, to the data transferred when users visit your site. Websites in the arts and culture sector tend to be more energy intensive as they typically feature high-resolution images and video.
Methods for conducting an audit of your website
Use free online carbon calculators
A range of free online tools can help you get an initial sense of your website’s environmental impact. Platforms such as Website Carbon Calculator and Ecograder analyse factors like page size, data transfer, site traffic and whether your hosting provider uses renewable energy. Do keep in mind that these tools usually assess one page at a time, offering a helpful starting point rather than a full site-wide picture.
Try a site-wide analytics tool
For a deeper understanding of your website’s carbon footprint, you may want to explore subscription-based tools such as Cabin Analytics. These platforms scan every page on your site to estimate its total carbon impact and let you track improvements over time as you make changes. Plans typically begin at around £15 per month.
Consult a digital sustainability expert
If your budget allows, working with a specialist can provide you with tailored analysis and clear, practical recommendations. Crafts Council spoke with Ben Meyer, digital sustainability expert and founder of BM Digital, about how tools like Screaming Frog SEO can be used to run a full website crawl. This approach calculates your website’s carbon emissions and gives you insight into its SEO and accessibility performance.
Another respected consultancy in this field is Wholegrain Digital, who focus on identifying meaningful opportunities for improvement and helping organisations build more sustainable, high-performing websites.
Ways to improve your website’s carbon footprint
Optimise your media
Make sure images and videos are correctly sized and optimised before uploading. To reduce data usage, consider hosting videos on platforms like YouTube or Vimeo and linking to them from a static image rather than embedding the full file on your site.
Streamline your code
Review your website for unused or outdated JavaScript and CSS. You may need support from a developer, but removing legacy code can significantly reduce load times and energy use.
Tidy up your copy
Most users scan content rather than reading every word. Keeping copy concise not only improves the user experience but also reduces stored text data. Web accessibility expert Steve Krug suggests cutting online copy by up to 75%.
Boost your page speed
Optimise your content so that key, above-the-fold elements load within 2.5 seconds. A faster site uses less energy and gives users a smoother experience.
Choose a sustainable hosting provider
Consider switching to a host that runs on 100% renewable energy. The Green Web Directory is a free tool that can help you find providers committed to sustainable practice.
Use a darker colour palette
Websites with darker backgrounds tend to be more energy efficient, as lighter colours (especially white and blue) require more power to display.
Clean up your media library
Regular audits of your CMS media library can help you remove unused files, freeing up storage and reducing your website’s overall footprint.
Partner with sustainable specialists
If you’re working with a digital agency, choose one that prioritises sustainability and has experience building lightweight, energy-efficient websites.
Glossary
Above-the-fold content
The part of a webpage that’s visible before scrolling.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
Code that controls how your website looks (e.g. fonts, colours, layout).
Data centre
A facility that houses computer servers storing and delivering websites, using electricity for power and cooling.
Data transfer
The movement of data from servers to users when someone visits your website.
Hosting provider
A company that stores your website on its servers and makes it accessible online.
JavaScript
A programming language that adds interactivity to websites.
Optimised for web
Refers to files (especially images and videos) that are compressed or resized to load faster and use less energy.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Techniques to improve your website’s visibility in search engine results.
Website media
Images, videos and audio on your website.
Resources
- Julie’s Bicycle, Briefing Report: Environmental Sustainability in the Digital Age of Culture
- BM Digital, How to conduct a Website Carbon Audit using Screaming Frog SEO
- Green Web Foundation, The Green Web Directory
- Wholegrain Digital, Lets talk Digital Sustainability
- A Book Apart, Sustainable Web Design
- Digital Culture Network, Webinar recording – How to make your website more sustainable
- Digital Culture Network, 10 ways to make your website more sustainable
