Truly Green or Eco-friendly?
Type "green hosting" in any search engine and the results will show a large number of Web hosting companies proclaiming themselves to be “eco-friendly” or “100% green” with their products and services. However, there is a difference between truly green Web hosting using clean, renewable energy resources and the usual ecologically friendly routes most hosting companies take.
Carbon offsets and green tags
What routes are these? While not bad ideas in their own right, the purchase of carbon credit offsets and green tags enable Web hosting companies to take the easy way out when it comes to giving back to the planet. Carbon credit offsets are monetary units that can be purchased in an equal or larger amount than the amount of energy that a Web hosting company consumes on a regular basis. These credit offsets go toward creating green energy such as wind or solar powered energy resources. Green tags, also known as renewable energy certificates, are non-tangible energy commodities that are supposed to represent proof that power has been generated from a renewable energy resource.
Confusion
As stated, these are not bad ideas on the surface as the end result is the creation of renewable and clean energy. However, they do enable Web hosting companies to tout themselves as green Web hosts and this can be rather misleading when one is looking for a company that truly uses green energy to power their services and products. This makes it very difficult for potential Web hosting customers to find a true green Web hosting company among all those who should simply be considered “eco-friendly”.
Alleviate confusion
When searching through this mountain of potential Web hosting companies, one way to help differentiate between the eco-friendly and the true green Web host is to search by specific green energy sources. By typing in “solar powered Web hosting” the eco-friendly style Web hosting sites are moved to the wayside and true solar powered hosting companies are listed. Some of the more prominent and economical companies listed are AISO.Net, Solar Energy Host and GrayMatter. All three of these Web hosting companies offer great plans at low prices, are chock-full of all the standard features one would expect of a Web hosting company and are all powered by solar energy.
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