Understanding and Measuring the Environmental Impact of the University of Edinburgh’s Web Estate – Initial Insights and Further Questions from my Summer Internship.

About Me & My Background 

Hello! I’m Oisin (or Osh), a soon-to-be fourth-year Sustainable Development student studying on the Human Geography pathway. My background in sustainability and activism meant that this internship came with a lot of unknowns, as I really had no idea how much work was put into helping the University’s web estate run smoothly.

Before this internship, my understanding of sustainability was primarily grounded in tangible actions—reducing waste, living frugally, and campaigning for green practices. The digital world seemed distant from these principles and was often seen as the solution, envisioned as part of a sustainable utopia. Terms like ‘virtual’ and ‘cloud’ misled me into believing that our online activities have no environmental impact. Yet, as I’ve learned, the carbon footprint of the digital world is significant and growing. 

Discovering Digital Sustainability 

Joining the Web and Communications (WAC) team has been amazing, and everyone has been so welcoming. Working alongside Catalina, the other Green Web Estate Intern, and Chris, the Green Digital Design Intern, has been really valuable as we have all had the opportunity to incorporate our unique viewpoints and discuss the best approaches to sustainability.

Although, at times, it has felt counterproductive to sit in front of screens all day, especially when our job is to research and write about the negative environmental impact of website use. The irony isn’t lost on me—I find myself grappling with the fact that my current work seems so disconnected from the hands-on, eco-friendly actions I’ve always valued in environmentalism. Having said that, it has been very rewarding and exciting work as this is such an emerging sector. It is notoriously difficult to measure the carbon emissions of the digital industry due to the complexity of the networks involved. However, a sustainable future can only be achieved if every sector moves forward in understanding its impact and taking a more holistic approach to resource use to reduce its impact.   

As we reach the halfway point of our internship, I have tried to break down a few of the things we have learnt and what we hope to achieve: 

What I’ve Learned  

In the first two weeks, Catalina and I familiarised ourselves with the current literature, metrics, and tools used to measure website sustainability. We explored the Website Carbon Calculator, Ecograder and DigitalBeacon, all of which employ the Sustainable Web Design Model (SDWM). This methodology highlights data transfer, and consequently page weight, as the primary factor influencing carbon emissions. Alongside this here are a few of the other factors we’ve been looking at: 

• Hosting: We also learned about the impact of hosting and data centres, particularly those powered by renewable energy. For instance, EdWeb uses Google Cloud, which has pledged to achieve 24/7 carbon-free energy and has been using 100% renewable energy for the past five years.  

• Life-Cycle Assessment: If there is a strong need for a website, it’s important to think about the desired time needed for the website to be live, so it can be deleted when it is no longer needed. 

• Design: We have been working closely with Chris to identify simple design changes that can have a big impact on page weight and overall carbon emissions. Images and videos are usually the biggest culprit but they can often be compressed or resized. 

• Caching: Effective caching can reduce data transfer significantly for returning visitors.  

• Accessibility: Many improvements for accessibility, such as better load times, navigation, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO), also enhance sustainability.  

This data has helped us identify the high-impact pages and determine which individual pages needed to be altered. However, we still lack a complete understanding of how the whole web estate operates and how many unnecessary pages we have. The Sustainable Web Design Model is effective for identifying corrections needed on a page-by-page basis, but issues of navigation, excess information, or outdated content remain invisible. 

By analysing data from a sample of the web estate in 2023, we estimated that around 83% of webpages had under 10 views, and 45% gained 0 views over the year. This shows that the problem isn’t solely with page weight and design. Reducing the bulk of unused pages would save time, resources, money, physical space, and environmental impact of data centres while improving efficiency, navigation, and accessibility. 

While reducing the web estate might not immediately appear impactful if measured with the Sustainable Web Design Model, a holistic approach is necessary. Relying solely on renewable energy and improved hosting isn’t a complete solution. True sustainability encompasses more than just measurable CO2 emissions; it involves adopting behaviours that streamline the web estate, improve accessibility, navigation, and reduce information overload. 

Further Questions

At this point in the internship, I have learnt a lot, but I still have many unanswered questions. These are just a few:  

• What is an accurate measurement of the environmental impact of unused pages?  

• Is data transfer the best way to understand carbon emissions, or is electricity consumption a more accurate factor? 

• How can we effectively spread the sustainable message to everyone involved in the University’s web estate, and can we extend it even further? 

• What other resources can we use to spread information so that websites don’t need to be created?  

Looking Forward

This internship has opened my eyes to the important world of digital sustainability, and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to learn about it. It feels like every week my thinking evolves on the best practices to adopt, but that’s common in sustainability! Who knows, in five weeks’ time when my internship finishes, I could have a completely different viewpoint, but I’m excited to see how it turns out. By understanding and implementing sustainable web practices and questioning the need for every part of our web estate, we can make a meaningful difference in reducing our carbon footprint and promoting a greener future.