Most people don’t think of their website as something that pollutes.
It’s just… there. Floating around in the internet somewhere, doing its thing. No smoke stacks. No emissions. No visible impact.
But here’s the thing: every single time someone visits your website, energy is being used. Real energy. The kind that comes from power grids, data centres, and servers humming away 24/7 in massive warehouses around the world.
And that energy? It has a carbon footprint.
The internet currently produces around 3 to 4% of global carbon emissions. That’s roughly on par with the entire aviation industry. And it’s climbing every year as our digital lives get bigger, heavier, and more data-hungry.
Your website is part of that picture. So is mine. So is everyone’s.
This isn’t about guilt. It’s about awareness. Because once you know, you can start making better choices. And honestly? The first step is kinda fun.
Go check your website's carbon footprint. Right now.
Seriously. It takes about 30 seconds.
Head to one (or all!) of these free tools and pop in your URL:
Go on. I’ll wait. 😊
(Bookmark this post and come back once you’ve got your results. No judgement here, I promise!)
So… what does your score actually mean?
If you’ve just run the test (gold star for you! ⭐), you’re probably looking at a letter grade and a number and thinking… “Cool, but what does this actually mean?”
Let’s break it down.
Your carbon rating (A+ to F)
Think of it like a report card for your website’s environmental impact. The closer you are to A, the leaner and greener your site is. The closer to F, the more energy your site is chewing through every time someone loads a page.
I aim for a minimum of a B grade on every site I build or optimise. That’s the standard I hold for my clients, and for my own site too.
Your CO₂ per page view
This is the estimated amount of carbon dioxide produced every time someone visits that page. It might look like a tiny number (say, 0.2g or 0.5g), but multiply that by hundreds or thousands of visits per month and it adds up fast.
For context: if your site produces 1g of CO₂ per visit and gets 10,000 visits a month, that’s 10kg of carbon per month. Just from people looking at your website.
My personal benchmark? I aim for less than 0.3g per page view.
Your "cleaner than X% of sites" ranking
Most of these tools will tell you how your site compares to others globally. If you’re cleaner than 70%+ of websites tested, you’re doing well. If not, there’s room to improve (and that’s totally okay!).
the moment I fell down the rabbit hole
I’ll be honest: I didn’t always think about this stuff either.
It was at the Women of Web Summit 2024 when I watched Sandy Dähnert from Green the Web speak about eco-friendly web design. Something just clicked. I immediately ran my own website through the carbon calculators, and thought… “Oh. OH.”
That was the start of what I can only describe as a full-on deep dive into sustainable web design. I started researching, testing, optimising, questioning everything about how websites are built and what they cost the planet.
And I haven’t looked back since.
When I rebuilt the Whale Tail Digital website, the initial carbon footprint came in at a solid B grade. Not bad! But I knew I could do better.
A few strategic tweaks later (swapping custom font files for native Google font versions, keeping imagery minimal, using a dark theme for lower energy usage), and… 💥
A+ grade achieved. 🥳
It was one of those fist-pump-at-the-desk moments, not gonna lie.
But it's not just my site
Across every client project I’ve worked on over the past 12+ months (website builds, redesigns, and eco-optimisation sprints), I’ve been tracking the before-and-after carbon footprint results.
The combined impact so far?
- Approx. 261 kg of CO₂ saved per year across all optimised client sites
- That's roughly 1,045 km of driving avoided
- Or the equivalent work of 12 trees
And that number keeps growing with every project.
No greenwashing. No fluff. Just real, measurable improvements, one website at a time.
Most of these tools will tell you how your site compares to others globally. If you’re cleaner than 70%+ of websites tested, you’re doing well. If not, there’s room to improve (and that’s totally okay!).
Why should you care? (Even if you're not an eco-warrior)
Here’s what I love about this: reducing your website’s carbon footprint isn’t just good for the planet. It’s good for everything.
⚡ Faster load times. A leaner site loads quicker, which means happier visitors who stick around longer.
🔍 Better SEO. Google rewards fast, efficient, accessible websites. Sustainability and search rankings go hand in hand.
🫶 Improved accessibility. Lighter sites perform better on slow connections, older devices, and for users in regional areas (hi, fellow regional Aussie! 👋).
💚 Values alignment. If you’re a purpose-driven business or NFP that cares about sustainability, your website should reflect that. Walking the talk online matters.
It’s one of those rare wins where doing the right thing also happens to be the smart thing.
What if your score wasn't great?
First: don’t stress. Seriously. Most websites have never been optimised for this, so a less-than-stellar score is incredibly common.
Second: you don’t have to overhaul everything overnight. Even small changes can make a noticeable difference. Things like compressing your images, removing plugins you’re not using, or switching to a green web host can shift that needle more than you’d expect.
I’ve written a deeper dive on the practical stuff here: How to reduce your website’s carbon footprint – it covers five straightforward ways to lighten your site’s impact.
And if you want to understand what’s really going on behind the scenes (spoiler: “the cloud” is not actually a cloud 😅), this one’s a good read too: The cloud isn’t a cloud: What powers your website and what it costs the planet
Want someone to handle it for you?
If your site scored lower than you’d like and you’d rather not DIY the fixes, that’s exactly what my Surge VIP sprint is for.
It’s a focused, done-in-a-day session where I dig into your site’s performance, trim the digital bloat, optimise what needs optimising, and get your carbon footprint heading in the right direction. Fast, focused, and zero fluff.
Or, if you’re not sure what your site needs and just want to talk it through, I’m always happy to chat.