The internet has a massive environmental impact. It currently produces 3.7 percent of global carbon emissions — that’s more than most countries of the world. All of the internet’s data centers have a larger CO2 footprint than air and water travel, and the average data center uses 11–19 million liters of water daily. And these numbers will only rise with the increasing demand for consumer content and the servers that supply such content to users across the globe. That’s where sustainable web design comes in.
Sustainable web design is all about creating digital products with reduced environmental impact, sustainability, and long-term use in mind. That’s with the decrease in energy consumption and the use of resources not just during use but throughout the product’s entire lifecycle.
The choices of a UX designer are made early in the design process. So, they greatly influence the final product. And this holds when taking environmental factors into account, too.
Implementing strategies such as reducing server requests, choosing green hosting providers, using carbon calculators, and educating users can make small but impactful changes in the digital experience. And you achieve improved performance and eco-conscious designs.
Plus, putting an emphasis on sustainability as part of the design process isn’t just an important moral directive. It’s also an interesting design challenge that can foster creativity and innovation as well as hold designers to even higher standards. And with global warming becoming a legitimate concern, eco-conscious brands have become increasingly valued, setting them apart from similar products in the same niche. So, sustainable development goals will also foster brand loyalty.
I got to know about sustainable design while working on a web design project for a coffee bean brand. The owner, an avid climate activist, mentioned to our team how much he’d like for his brand to be as environmentally friendly as possible. He wanted a website that would do the same and promote his eco-conscious agenda. Through research, I found that websites, in general, had a significant carbon footprint in a number of ways.
But all of that could be mitigated by adopting some core principles such as reducing interface bloat and instead opting to balance minimalism with usability. I’ll talk about them here:
Browsing the web involves multiple server requests to retrieve resources like web pages, images, and videos. High-resolution images, large videos, and animations consume significant energy, making pages heavier and less efficient.
For example, a webpage with 10,000 monthly views can produce over 200 kg of CO₂ emissions annually.
Optimizing resources can dramatically reduce a web page’s environmental impact. For instance:
A good example is the Impact Management Platform website, which emits only 0.19g of CO₂ per homepage view. Its minimalist design incorporates darker colors, uses images sparingly (e.g., for partner logos), and employs subtle animations in the hero section:
Like many UX designers out there, I was drawn to the field through UI — creating cool animations, bold color palettes, and interesting visual elements have become a cornerstone of my designs. But these creative choices often conflict with sustainability goals.
In order to keep the creative juices flowing and create a great UI while sticking to eco-conscious goals, I’ve adopted the mobile-first design concept. This approach starts with designing for small screens and expands to larger devices. As of September 2024, 63.38 percent of internet traffic came from mobile devices, making this strategy a natural fit.
A mobile-first design encourages simplicity and efficiency:
By maintaining these principles across larger screens, we can create cohesive, eco-conscious designs.
The environmental impact of servers is clear. Data centers make up 1–2 percent of the world’s electricity demand, which is met by burning fossil fuels. Lots of greenhouse gases, lots of pollution, and overall terrible for the environment. They use up a lot of energy and can be environmentally harmful, but they are necessary to store data.
Green hosting services offer a sustainable alternative. They’re powered by renewable energy sources instead of the traditionally polluting resources. These hosting providers run on green electricity and take active steps to ensure they do not emit any greenhouse gases while providing their services.
While UX designers don’t always have control over what hosting services are used by clients, having such knowledge can be helpful, even if only to inform and recommend clients of the benefits of such services. A few examples I know of are GreenGeeks, A2 Hosting, DreamHost, Inmotion Hosting, and Kualo Hosting.
Understanding the problem is the first step. To ensure sustainability goals are met, there are a couple of tools that we, as UX designers, can incorporate into our design process to track a website’s carbon footprint and keep our projects as eco-conscious as possible. I’ll talk about these next:
Carbon calculators measure a website’s environmental impact, establish the categories where your website fails to meet certain thresholds, and give tips and actionable suggestions for improvements to ensure it remains sustainable.
Using such tools during the development and maintenance process can inform design decisions and ensure an eco-conscious focus. Here’s a list of a few really good ones to start with:
Education is elevation, and the best way to ensure long-term benefits is through the education of the most involved party — the users.
Educating users on the environmental impact of their content consumption and inefficient use of applications encourages more conscious behavior.
A good way of doing this is to include the carbon footprint that your website uses in a way that is easily accessible to them. An example of this can be found in the Sustainable Web Design website, which includes information on how much CO2 the website emits:
This is, however, only one of the many ways in which designers can remain eco-conscious in their designs. Before educating others, designers must first educate themselves. The Sustainable Web Design guidelines are an excellent starting point, covering topics like systemic impact mapping, sustainable ideation, and recognized design patterns.
As designers, we owe it to our users to create amazing experiences, but let’s not forget — we’re humans too, and that means we have a responsibility to the planet.
By trying out some of the tips we’ve covered, you can take a step toward eco-conscious design.
A great starting point? Audit your previous projects. Spot the areas where you can make greener choices, whether it’s in your own work or even on your favorite websites and apps.
Grab a carbon calculator, and let your creative problem-solving skills shine. The planet will thank you!
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