Every website on the internet is hosted on a server, and most of the world’s servers are powered by fossil fuels. In fact, if the internet was a country it would be the world’s fourth largest polluter. We need to do better.
After learning that servers are powered by fossil fuels, we set out to redesign our website to reduce its carbon emissions and energy usage. This led to a research and development project that involved a comprehensive asset and digital audit, carbon and energy measurements, code update, A/B testing, and a complete site rebuild.
We documented our findings and process in a pioneering case study with the aim to inspire others, help fellow designers, studios and agencies create low emission websites for themselves and as a new service for clients looking to reduce their impact, and to help businesses transition to sustainable digital practices.
Overall we reduced our site’s carbon emissions by 67%.
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See our case study ↗
“MEK’s research played an important role in redefining our understanding of environmentally conscious design principles for the digital space. As we took on the challenge of crafting a brand for a non-profit client focused on combating climate change, the insights we discovered within MEK’s research provided a solid foundation for our exploration, prompting us to dig deeper into our own creative process. Thank you MEK team.”
NANCY BUGEJA, CEO, HM
“MEK‘s case study on their own digital impact was refreshing. They’re the first studio I’ve seen that expressed a conscious and public redesign that considered its energy consumption. What was once totally ignored or considered a design constraint is now being celebrated as an opportunity to do better — energising me to do the same.”
CALEB WISE, FOUNDER, ELLIOTT SYSTEMS