AusTiger's Carbon Neutral Journey
At the time of this writing the online industry consumes 11% of the world’s power and is set to grow exponentially over the coming decade as we become more and more dependent on technology and do ever more business online.
How many times a day do you check your social media, visit a website, read a blog or use an app? If you’re anything like me it will be a large number! Most of the time we aren’t even conscious about our online usage because it has become so ingrained in everyday life that we simply can’t operate without it.
To put it plainly, every website we visit, every “like” we make on Facebook, every image we upload to Instagram may be contributing to carbon pollution. Even just liking a post on a Facebook sends a request across the internet through dozens of routers and countless network devices before finally reaching Facebook’s servers. At every step of the way each device needs to be powered and kept in a cooled environment, which contributes directly to carbon pollution. It’s because of this we do things a little differently.
When we started Telligence and AusTiger Hosting in Australia over 10 years ago, the one core value that drove how we built our business was “step lightly on our planet”. We started off by purchasing carbon credits to offset our hosting environment and office power usage. We employed other initiatives like turning devices off at the power point when not in use and encouraged our team members to take the same initiatives at home.
We are now in an office we own, which gives us far greater opportunities to step lightly on our planet. We have installed a large solar installation that offsets all of our daily power usage and sends plenty back into the grid. We run energy efficient LED lights amongst many other initiatives. We are now in the process of planning a large battery installation so we can reduce all reliance on the grid and to be net positive in power.
As for our 100% green web hosting environment, we employ a number of different technologies, like virtual machines and energy efficient servers to minimise our power usage and maximize the performance we offer our clients. For the areas we can’t control we purchase carbon credits to offset our usage to make us beyond 100% carbon neutral. Eco-friendly web hosting is a way of life for us.
It’s interesting that a number of companies are now offering a “green option”. This merely says they aren’t committed to reducing climate change and see a “green option” as a way to try and generate more business. We believe there shouldn’t be an option and we don’t offer one. When you do business with us you get a 100% green service—no exceptions, no compromise.
We do all of this because the science is in, climate change is happening at an alarming rate. We believe we have an ethical and social responsibility to look after our planet and leave it in a better state for the next generation and generations to come.
Even the largest changes start with small steps in the right direction. We are making all the right steps we can and will continue to encourage others to do the same. When it comes to climate change, we all have the power to make a difference.
Step Lightly on our Planet!