RECs, CCs, and other Options: How Web Hosting Companies Minimize Environmental Damage

The Internet has become a very profitable venue for businesses, both small home-based enterprises and multinational companies, to promote and sell their products. For consumers, the Internet has become such a tangible part of our everyday lives that goods and services purchased through the Internet have now become very common. As with everything else that we take for granted, though, we often overlook the part where the Internet actually, but silently, causes harm to the environment.

Web hosting companies, however, have the initiative to take things into their own hands and follow recommended procedures to minimize the harm the Internet can cause to Mother Earth. Many of these companies, typically known as green web hosting companies, voluntarily provide the environment-related information regarding the web hosting business on their websites. For instance, these companies readily admit that web hosting takes up as much as 4% of the entire world's electricity consumption in one year.

There are many options taken by green web hosting companies. The most popular among these is the purchase of RECs, or Renewable Energy Credits, which are financial instruments that allow them to source the energy requirements of their business from manufacturers of renewable energy. The most common forms of renewable energy used by green web hosting companies are wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy. A single REC is equivalent to a certain amount of renewable energy that can be used for the green hosting company's operations.

RECs are the primary mode of energy-saving, but the green cause can further be promoted through the use of other methods, such as the purchase of carbon credits. Similar to RECs, carbon credits are financial tools bought by web hosting companies to offset the damage done by carbon emissions, majority of which are caused by the burning of fossil fuels for home and business electricity use. The money used to purchase carbon credits is used to fund projects, such as tree-planting and information campaigns, which work against the release of more carbon and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The methods mentioned above are the primary means used by green web hosting companies to avoid further damage to the Earth. However, as individuals can take their own little steps to save the planet, web hosting companies also go the extra mile in decreasing the chances of depleting our natural resources. A paperless office, employees who are paid to carpool and telecommute, and an aggressive recycling program are only some of the ‘small steps' taken by green web hosting companies to run the extra mile. Information campaigns geared toward their clients and an environment-friendly arrangement of server equipment and office appliances also help.