Bring In Green Hosting

There is a new trend in website hosting. It’s called “Green Hosting”. The essential premise is that some of the money paid by the website developer will be used by the website hosting company to host the website on a carbon-neutral server, viz one whose carbon emissions are offset by the web-hosting company’s green activities like planting trees or purchase of carbon credits. While this concept is widely in use by some of the American web-hosting companies, it is starting off in a small way in India. It needs to create a lot more awareness to get the requisite impetus to make a large difference.

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Aditi Utpat of Times of India explores this phenomenon in its infancy and talks about the steps being taken to promote it. Although she has found only one website as of now, the Pune Gourmet Club Association, who has adopted the green hosting feature for its new website, we all hope this is just the beginning of a whole new internet revolution.

While an extensive search by TOI threw up only one website that was hosted on a green server, Znet India, one of the country’s largest web-hosting companies, has confirmed that they have up to 100 clients who have opted for green hosting.

Munesh Singh, CEO of the Noida-based company, said, “Our contributions have helped towards the purchase of one hectare of land in Noida. Our staff are taking responsibility to grow trees on this land. This is a long-term project and will take twenty years before the forest becomes well-grown. The whole project is expected to sequester some 200 tonnes of carbon dioxide while making a real contribution to wildlife conservation.”

And since reducing (or neutralising) one’s carbon footprint attracts benefits from the government, green hosting is actually more cost efficient in the long run than conventional hosting.

Be it to reduce costs, gain publicity or make a difference, the efforts of web hosting companies to introduce and popularize the concept of green hosting will have long term benefits. It is good to know that corporate India is taking note, and the idea is getting the support of organizations like NASSCOM and the government.

Directi, a multinational conglomerate, told TOI that the Green IT’ agenda is gaining momentum in India and has already attracted private and government funding.

Bhavin Turakhia, CEO of Directi, added that while the company does not undertake green hosting initiatives of its own, green hosting is sure to become “increasingly popular” among the consumers, as “concern for the environment increases”.

So while we have a long way to go before we can boast of a ‘green internet’, it is still a great sign that web-hosting companies and consumers in India are waking up to the fact that there is a way to do things in a more environmentally friendly manner, and are playing an active role in propagating it. The Better India supports them in their efforts, and is also now attempting to move to a green server on its part.

Do read the complete article here.
Link Courtesy: Munesh Singh, CEO and Founder – ZNet India
Image Courtesy: www.metaefficient.com

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