Web surfing, that is... I've been so busy the last few days that I haven't had a chance to even skim the table of contents of the latest issue of E/The Environmental Magazine (I'm sure my wife's now given up on me picking it up off of the dining room table...). So, I was glad I ran across this item on the news feeds: Starre Vartan, Ms. Eco-Chick herself, gives us a run-down of the green-powered ISPs.Behind every website, whether it's a behemoth like weather.com or your Uncle Bob'’s family genealogy page, there's a computer called a server, which can be as large as an office-sized supercomputer or as small as someone'’s PC. Those servers use energy, and especially for larger, popular sites, are expected to be able to meet the demand of thousands or even millions of visitors at once. A server can'’t be turned off, since websites are available around the clock.Starre lists options both for Internet access and website hosting, and it's good to see a number of FOSs (that's Friends of sustainablog): both Red Jellyfish and Sustainable Marketing get a nod, as well as EcoISP, SolarHost and Locomotive Media. Don, the Evangelical Ecologist, constantly touts the use of renewable-powered hosting -- perhaps its time I got on board...
Whether you surf the ever-widening web for fun or profit (about 26 million Americans work from home at least one day a week), there are green and competitive options. There are ISPs that funnel money to your favorite green organizations, wind-powered e-mail servers and solar-run website servers, especially useful if you run your own small business, blog or website. Together, they can make your online experience (and that of your customers) a more environmentally conscious one.
Categories: web, ISP, hosting, renewable, energy, technology
