GreenDev: 50 Environmentally Friendly Apps, Hosts and Resources

In Blog, Features

Disclosure: Your support helps keep the site running! We earn a referral fee for some of the services we recommend on this page. Learn more

As a web developer, you probably assume that your work is pretty environmentally friendly, and for the most part, you’re right. But despite all of your paper saving and working at home, your work, specifically your websites, still contributes to rising CO2 levels. Check out this collection to find tools and resources that will help you minimize your impact on the environment in web development and beyond.

Tools

With these tools, you can measure and reduce your impact on the environment.

  1. Blackle: This black screen version of Google consumes less monitor energy than the regular white one.
  2. Emergy-C: Use this color palette to reduce the energy usage of your site.
  3. CarbonFund: Most small businesses generate about 70 tons of CO2 each year, and you can purchase an offset from this organization.
  4. YourMPG: In this service from fueleconomy.gov, you can monitor your MPG and compare it with other users.
  5. The Green Data Project: This project encourages slimming down your unnecessary data for greener servers and more.
  6. Spiceworks: Manage the power of your PC with this tool.
  7. 41Pounds: Use this resource to cut your waste by getting off of junk mail lists.
  8. AMP WinOFF: This Windows tool automatically shuts down, restarts, and hibernates your computer (among other things) after a certain amount of time, at a specific time, or when your CPU goes idle.
  9. TLP: Create a more energy efficient Linux machine using this site.

Apps

Use these applications to work just a little bit greener.

  1. Carma Carpooling: Use this app to find nearby people to share your commute with.
  2. Google Transit: Chart your trip by public transportation using this app from Google.
  3. Zoho Office Suite: Use Zoho Office’s Zoho Meeting to eliminate face-to-face meetings and collaborate online instead.
  4. CO2Stats: Determine the carbon footprint of your site or blog based on traffic with this app.
  5. Box: Use Box to upload client files instead of printing or sending a CD.
  6. FreshBooks: With FreshBooks, you can bill completely online, with the option to email bills instead of sending paper invoices.
  7. TaskPower 3: Wrangle your computer’s services, tasks, and more with this app that lets you reduce the power your system uses.
  8. Skype: Use Skype to conduct virtual meetings and avoid wasteful transportation.
  9. GreenPrint: GreenPrint offers an easy way to prevent the printing of extraneous information like banner ads, URLs, and legal disclaimers.
  10. #climate: An app to discover and share ways that you can take action against climate change.
  11. MyFax: Use MyFax to send and receive virtual faxes.
  12. My Mile Marker: This slick MPG app will let your record your miles, view reports, and even access the app from your mobile device.
  13. Dropcountr: Connect to your water utility company via your smartphone to conserve water.

Networks & Directories

Check out these directories to find goods, services, and people that are environmentally friendly.

  1. National Green Pages: Find green, healthy, and ethical products & services listed in this directory.
  2. Care2: Connect with other greenies, discuss tips, and find out about good causes, ethical organizations, fair trade, and other charitable issues on Care2.
  3. Celsias: An online environmental community where you can participate in green projects, track progress, and share results.
  4. MakeMeSustainable: Calculate your development’s carbon emissions and learn how to reduce them in this green social network.
  5. BuyGreen.com: Use this shopping portal to find eco-friendly products that disclose material sources, manufacturing, usage, and disposal.
  6. Riverwired: Learn how to make your development more eco-friendly on this social network that offers lots of resources and advice.
  7. EcoBusinessLinks: Find green, healthy, and ethical products and services, and learn what exactly makes the products green with this eco-friendly e-commerce portal.

Hosts

Check out these hosts that offer web hosting without damage to the environment. (Note: you can also find eco-friendly web hosting promo codes here.)

  1. Rackspace: This carbon neutral host offsets its energy usage with the International Tree Foundation, which plants a tree for each Rackspace server.
  2. TigerTech: TigerTech uses only EnergyStar products, fluorescent lights, and donates to the CarbonFund yearly.
  3. GreenGeeks: This web hosting company replaces, with wind power credits, 3 times the amount of energy your website will use.
  4. FatCow: FatCow purchases Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to offset our energy use, reducing the amount of electricity in the energy grid that’s produced by fossil fuels.
  5. Sustainable Hosting: Sustainable Hosting’s facility is powered in part by wind, saving approximately more than 32,000 pounds of CO2.
  6. Affordable Internet Services Online: AISO is 100% solar powered, making this host an excellent green choice.
  7. HostPapa: Go with HostPapa for their investments in clean technology.
  8. Ilisys: Ilisys uses renewable wind and solar power sources, and dontes to the CarbonNeutral program, which plants trees to offset their emissions.
  9. Coreix: This hosting center offsets their carbon footprint by partnering with the World Land Trust, which repairs degraded Ecuadorian forests.
  10. GreenHosting: Websites using GreenHosting are powered by 100% wind energy.
  11. DreamHost: DreamHost operates on energy efficient servers, and purchases carbon emmission offsets for their servers and office waste.

Guides

For even more information and guidance on green computing and web development, check out these guides.

  1. How to Green Your Work: Make your development business more eco-friendly with this guide.
  2. Ten Tips for Donating a Computer: Ready to upgrade? Learn how to donate a computer for repurposing in this article.
  3. The Green Entrepreneur’s Toolbox: 100 Networking Resources, Guides, and Links: Check out this guide to find helpful green resources like blogs, tools, and organizations.
  4. 10 Ways to Green Your Home Office: This article offers lots of general ways web developers and other freelancers can become more environmentally friendly.
  5. Green Computing Guide: This document from CoSN offers lots of tips for greener computing.
  6. 10 ways to live better electrically: Learn how to reduce the impact of your own computer and more in this guide.
  7. Build a Green Datacenter: This article offers advice for creating a green datacenter of your own.
  8. 5 Unique ways freelancers are going green: Aimed at all sorts of freelancers, this blog offers 5 tips and tricks for reducing your impact.
  9. Saving Power on Idle PCs: Get an extremely in-depth look at PC energy conservation with this guide.
  10. Print Friendly Website: This guide will show you how to create a print friendly website so that your visitors don’t waste paper and ink.
 

Tags: ,

Leave a Reply