Climate & Nature...

I love reading magazines online. I can instantly surf to the stories I want to read, and there are no paper copies to recycle. Nothing could be greener, right?

But what about all of that energy that goes into displaying a web site on my computer screen? My computer is using power, and so are the computers and servers that deliver that site to me. And if I found the site through Google or some other search engine, a whole new set of energy-burning devices enters the equation. Every click I make means power plants are spewing more carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Meanwihle, I have several web sites of my own, plus a few blogs. All of them burn energy every time someone looks at them.

What's a green-thinking web-surfer/site owner to do?

One solution is CO2Stats -- a free widget you can easily add to your web site or blog (and which I just added to my blog here). The CO2Stats widget monitors how much electricity is being used to power my site. It displays a tiny, unobtrusive advertisement, and the CO2Stats Project uses that income to invest in renewable energy projecs to offset my site's carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the widget displays an estimate of how much CO2 has been offset by my site, and reminds visitors that they can act greener, too.

For businesses who want to green-up their sites, there's also a paid version ($9.95 a month) which is advertising-free and provides detailed analytics of your site's visitors.

Do you have other ideas on creating a greener web site? Let's hear them!