Sustainable web design means: fast, lean, functional—and resource-efficient. It’s about optimizing the technical and content design of a website so that less data needs to be processed, transferred, and stored.
Measures:
- Optimization of media:
- Compressed images with WebP or AVIF instead of JPEG.
- Do not play videos automatically.
- Reduction to essential content – less is more.
- Alternatives to embedded YouTube or Vimeo videos: e.g., preview + link instead of auto-embed.
- Clean code:
- Reduction of frameworks, plug-ins and trackers.
- Avoid unnecessary animations and JavaScript effects.
- Avoid redundant CSS files.
- Performance-oriented design:
- Mobile-first approach: Optimization for mobile devices saves data volume.
- Low server response times through static page elements and caching.
- Green hosting:
- Selection of hosts with genuine green electricity (e.g. ServerCO2neutral, Greengeeks, Manitu, RAIDBOXES).
- Transparent information about data center locations and energy sources.
Additional idea: Integration of a CO₂ counter on the website (“This page causes approximately 0.3 g of CO₂ when loading”) – as a sign of transparency and environmental awareness.