Eco-friendly on the web?
Making a site lighter isn't enough for true sustainability. Discover which technical choices and content strategies improve your impact without empty promises.
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You go to look up a restaurant's opening hours and your phone ends up running a 3D scene, a background video, and effects that track your every move. All that, only to find out the restaurant is closed on Mondays. Personally, it feels a bit like we're killing penguins just to display a timetable.
The image is intentionally exaggerated, of course. But the discrepancy really bothers me: we sometimes deploy an impressive amount of technology just to make a simple piece of information harder to get.
And if the result only works properly on the latest iPhone or a brand-new computer, I think we've missed the mark. A visitor shouldn't have to upgrade their hardware just to have the right to read our site.
On the other hand, making someone wait through an animated intro before letting them access a form is a different story. We might have succeeded in a technical demonstration, but not necessarily in building a good site for that person.
For me, the interesting question is quite direct: if we remove this effect, what does the visitor lose? If the answer is just "it looks less impressive," we can at least discuss its necessity. An optional animation that doesn't block content is already a better compromise.
Yet these are ordinary situations. If the menu lags or the page becomes a chore to scroll, the user doesn't think our animation is ambitious. They look for information, they wait, and then they leave.
That's why hardware lifespan also matters in eco-design. The general guidelines for the eco-design of digital services take equipment and usage into account, not just the server. A site that remains usable on a less powerful device is a step in the right direction; a green leaf in the footer doesn't fix a lagging menu.
Same for video: does it actually explain the service, or is it just looping behind text that no one can read? The answer completely changes the work required.
We can keep beautiful images, a visual identity, and pleasant interactions while making better choices about what we load and when. Caching can also prevent redundant downloads. But before the technical tweaks, I like to understand why each element is there.
To revamp a site, we can start very simply: open the key pages on an older device, see what loads, and try to do what a customer would do. Find a time. Choose a service. Send an enquiry.
If all that works better after our intervention, with fewer useless resources, we've already done concrete work. And we can keep the effects that truly add value, rather than asking the phone to suffer just to prove we can do 3D.
The image is intentionally exaggerated, of course. But the discrepancy really bothers me: we sometimes deploy an impressive amount of technology just to make a simple piece of information harder to get.
And if the result only works properly on the latest iPhone or a brand-new computer, I think we've missed the mark. A visitor shouldn't have to upgrade their hardware just to have the right to read our site.
3D can be useful without being mandatory
I have nothing against a well-made animation. Rotating an object to understand its shape, showing how a part is assembled, or offering a truly interactive experience can provide much more value than a photo.On the other hand, making someone wait through an animated intro before letting them access a form is a different story. We might have succeeded in a technical demonstration, but not necessarily in building a good site for that person.
For me, the interesting question is quite direct: if we remove this effect, what does the visitor lose? If the answer is just "it looks less impressive," we can at least discuss its necessity. An optional animation that doesn't block content is already a better compromise.
Your computer isn't like everyone else's
When you build a site on a powerful machine with a great connection, it's easy to forget everything else. The phone that's a few years old, the poor signal on a train, the laptop still in use because it works perfectly fine for daily tasks.Yet these are ordinary situations. If the menu lags or the page becomes a chore to scroll, the user doesn't think our animation is ambitious. They look for information, they wait, and then they leave.
That's why hardware lifespan also matters in eco-design. The general guidelines for the eco-design of digital services take equipment and usage into account, not just the server. A site that remains usable on a less powerful device is a step in the right direction; a green leaf in the footer doesn't fix a lagging menu.
You can lighten a site without making it dull
Take a shop: photos allow you to see the product, its details, its texture. Making them tiny or unreadable just to save a few bytes helps no one. However, sending a huge image only to display it as a small thumbnail means transporting data that isn't being used.Same for video: does it actually explain the service, or is it just looping behind text that no one can read? The answer completely changes the work required.
We can keep beautiful images, a visual identity, and pleasant interactions while making better choices about what we load and when. Caching can also prevent redundant downloads. But before the technical tweaks, I like to understand why each element is there.
Penguins aren't counted with a stopwatch
A page that loads faster is a measurable improvement. Deducing a precise number of grams of CO₂ saved is another matter, requiring a serious methodology and scope. I prefer to show you what we've actually changed rather than turning every optimisation into an ecological certificate.To revamp a site, we can start very simply: open the key pages on an older device, see what loads, and try to do what a customer would do. Find a time. Choose a service. Send an enquiry.
If all that works better after our intervention, with fewer useless resources, we've already done concrete work. And we can keep the effects that truly add value, rather than asking the phone to suffer just to prove we can do 3D.
