Green Web Hosting

Green web hosting is inspired by the resolve to create and maintain an eco-friendly environment which is crucial not only for humans to live a healthy life but also for the other species abiding on the planet. Green web hosting emphasizes the use of green energy, i.e. energy derived from sources other than petrochemical products such as petrol, diesel, kerosene oil and the like. These alternative sources may include solar power, wind energy, the use of biofuels etc. There are some green web hosting companies that go even further by adopting an aggressive policy on reducing waste, for example by going paperless, i.e. maintaining all their records on electronic media instead of paper, sending bills to customers via email instead of by post etc.

As you know, a web hosting company is able to present your site to web surfers by storing your website's data on servers housed in their data centers, which are connected to the internet backbone around the clock via multi-gigabit links. These servers, like any other appliance require electricity to run. Some web hosting companies determined to preserving a clean and healthy environment use wind energy to power their data centers, which is also referred to as renewable energy. However, given the high cost of operating a wind farm, most other hosting providers instead buy renewable energy certificates (RECs) from power producing companies that use a wind farm.

By using green energy to run their data centers, web hosting companies can help reduce the carbon footprint (carbon emissions into the environment) drastically. This fosters and nurtures a healthier environment which reduces the risk of diseases thereby increasing the standard of life as well as average life expectancy. What this means to you as a web hosting customer is that you can also contribute towards creating and sustaining an eco-friendly environment by purchasing hosting from a green web hosting company.

Finally, what remains to be explored is the cost of going with a green web hosting company, i.e. does it cost more or less? The answer is that the use of green energy can in no way increase the cost of operating a web hosting business, so there is no additional burden on you, the end-user. On the contrary, many green web hosting companies are in fact offering their hosting services for much less as compared to those that are not green. For example, WebHostingPad sells for only $1.99/month, iPage is available for only $4.5/month, FatCow sells for only $4.67/month, and the list goes on and on. So the bottomline is that you have nothing to lose. On the other hand, you can contribute to a greener environment immensely by hosting a new website with a green host or by moving your existing site to a green hosting company. The following web hosting companies use green energy to fulfil their energy needs.