What is digital sustainability?

Digital sustainability refers to creating, operating and maintaining digital products or services in ways that minimise their environmental impact. As our reliance on digital technologies increases, so does their energy consumption, carbon footprint and environmental impact.. Therefore, we need to understand the carbon load from digital technologies, and look at how we can address and improve digital sustainability.

Is the internet sustainable?

Over the past few years, there has been more awareness of the fact that the internet, despite being invisible to most users, does have a physical presence that means it has a carbon footprint. However, the scale of this is an unknown for many. They don’t see the data centers, servers and network infrastructure required to power our devices and therefore it is difficult to comprehend how much energy they consume. Yet the internet has a significant environmental impact. It accounts for 3.7% of global carbon emissions each year.

This figure is also likely to be out of date. AI adoption is increasing exponentially and we don’t have transparent data on it to understand its energy consumption. Furthermore, global internet traffic tripled between 2017 and 2022. Any data that is available, quickly becomes out of date and it is tricky to know whether we can assume previous patterns of growth still apply, particularly given AI.

So the question of ‘is the internet sustainable’ seems to have a very concerning answer – no.

What is meant by digital sustainability?

Everything we do online has a cost – loading cookies into browsers, playing videos, or running code all consume energy and resources. Digital sustainability is about considering these costs within our decision-making, firstly by converting these costs into a useful metric and then defining an approach that reduces the impact of this activity at scale.

For us, digital sustainability means managing digital resources responsibly. We aim to clearly understand and limit data transfer wherever possible, without compromising essential product features.

This includes optimising servers and data centres, particularly regarding their energy sources. For example, choosing those that use renewable or clean energy. It also involves reducing a website’s carbon footprint through thoughtful design and feature selection. This could involve efficient coding practices, selectively using lightweight themes or plugins, and optimising content delivery methods.

It also means making deliberate choices with media – using images at appropriate sizes, compressing files effectively, and embedding videos sparingly. Also, rather than autoplaying a large video file, a more sustainable approach might be to embed a link that can be played when the user clicks on it instead. This means the amount of data required, especially at scale and over a large period of time, is greatly reduced. In this case, the device requesting the data, the server sending the data and all the other external parties in-between (such as data centres), all require less energy.

Why you need a digital sustainability strategy

Digital sustainability also means maintaining what you have done over the long-term. Creating and launching a website or an app that is sustainable is great, but processes need to be followed and checks implemented to ensure it stays this way. For example, for any new page being added to a site, are the images following guidelines set in terms of size limit? Are any plugins being added that haven’t been audited first?

The way to ensure that you remain on track with your digital sustainability goals is to develop a strategy that is carefully implemented and monitored. It sets expectations at all levels, ensuring there is awareness, responsibility and accountability. It allows you to spot any gaps that could risk damaging your digital footprint, such as in training for new team members.

Furthermore, a digital sustainability strategy can have other benefits to your business that go beyond your own internal goals. It can reduce costs through decreased energy usage, enhance your reputation, future-proof your services, and improve overall performance and user experience.

Adopting digital sustainability positions your organisation as responsible and forward-thinking, benefiting both the environment and your long-term business success.