Hello everybody,
One of the most requested topics for me to write about has been how we, as digital professionals, can help save the planet. However, if I am being honest with you, I have avoided writing about it because I feel like a hypocrite.
Fortunately, Michelle from our Slack channel knows far more about the subject than I do and, more importantly, lives the most sustainable lifestyle of anybody I know.
What follows is a very brief introduction from her on the topic. If you would like to hear more from Michelle, please let me know.
Over to Michelle.
As designers we learn to empathise with our users and design products that will hopefully make their lives easier. That naturally extends to empathy for our planet and the climate breakdown we are already part of. The good news is there’s plenty we can do — the problem is how far to go and how deep. Here are some starting ideas (and some of them might be challenging).
Be ruthlessly efficient in your design
Firstly, one of the easiest things you can do is something you’re hopefully already doing.
Aim to design efficient, accessible and easy-to-use websites every single day. Doing so uses less energy and make things work faster for our users.
In 2020, the internet consumed between 3.6 and 6.2 percent of all electricity worldwide.
So as designers we should be using the principles of mobile-first, plain language, inclusive design as well as optimised code and images to make the most performant design possible.
If you’re freelance or working for clients being a green designer can be part of your USP there are not as many people marketing it in this way. Work with your entire team to make the entire stack work effortlessly, bed it into your process.
Review your hosting, software and other tools
Performance is a moot point if your site is hosted unethically though – your hosting should powered by 100% green energy. Use Website Carbon to see how well your site is doing. Can you do better?
This extends to your design tools and websites. Cloud systems can use more resources than installed applications. Can you use an offline mode and sync less often? What is the providence of your software? Take a look at your search engine and browsers too.
More ethical organisations tend to think about these considerations from the outset and build sustainability into their products.
We can always do better as designers, challenge yourself to look at how you work and create a strategy to make changes to your daily workflow.
If you work from home you can switch to green energy there too (and use green heating). If you’re office based, what does your employer do? Can you encourage them to do better?
Stop fossil fuel investment through your work
Have you considered where your wages/savings/pension are paid into? Your bank may be using your money to invest in fossil fuels and other climate-affecting ventures. Many of the top banks do this.
So if you take one action away from this — move your money. Use Bank Green to change to a more ethical bank. It isn’t the nightmare it used to be. Your current bank is relying on the perceived difficulty.
Ethical banks tend to be easier to use because they have better digital UX. They’re newer and customer focused have little older infrastructure. For extra impact talk to your employer or clients about why you’re doing this and why they should too.
Buy better and buy less…
Lastly, we need to talk about your tech. Or rather the new tech cycle. Chasing after the latest smartphone/computer etc each and every year isn’t good for the planet. This is depleting the planets natural resources and uses immense amounts of energy to do so.
When you buy tech make it last for a long as possible. Buy refurbished or second hand. Buy one or two cycles after everyone else. Buy stuff that is repairable. Sell or gift your old devices and recycle them. Buy less and waste less (generally).
Try to reconcile your need for new with the reality of where we are. Plus continuing to support sites/apps on older devices makes the overall experience more inclusive and accessible for more people for longer.
Sustainability is about doing the best we can in an imperfect world
I could talk about this subject until the end of days — I may have to at this rate (if we can’t globally reduce our carbon footprint). If you’d like more ideas for how you can help (or have any to share) please let me know.
