cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/6839374
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this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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Solarpunk technology
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Inconvenient truth: the location of your website matters more than its content in terms of footprint. Hosting in on a VPS at Amazon probably has a lower footprint than a raspberry pi in your garage. And overall, it is really, really small.
Individuals can make a ton of choices and impact! But don't make them believe that some things are impactful when they are not. Changing the way you move around, insulating your home, changing your diet, improving your recycling, all these have an impact. Making your webpage 50K lighter? That's good design sure, but not an environmental action.
Insulate your water heater before worrying about the few mW a website could save!
Only recycle metal and electronics, plastic recycling is a scam. Best case is plastic recycling goes directly into a landfill, worst case it's bundled and shipped half way around the world and dumped on the beach.
At one point then the goal is not to lower your impact, it is to make it positive: don't lower your energy use anymore, become a net producer. We just moved in a house so the insulation and switch to heat pump is our priority but at one point I want solar panels. I want guilt-free air conditioning in summer
Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good reasons to do lighter websites. Environmental impact is not one of them. Either your electricity usage emits CO2, in which case you have more urgent things to do, or your electricity does not, and you don't care about the additional microwatthour loading a js library took.
Hell yes. I'm glad to see someone get it. Every little bit counts! Something is better than nothing. Even if it's tiny. It all adds up.
You totally rock.