I think every website hosted by Webflow has the problem that their CO2 emissions are very high. Especially now, in times when customers or companies pay more attention to whether a service provider is committed, for example, in terms of climate protection or social commitment, this point is not an unimportant one.
Webflow hosts via amazon, among others. And if you check the amazon website, you have to wonder why it is rated as dirty, although the company is “apparently” committed to climate protection. But does “green hosting” also take place here? Apple, for example, is in a good green space.
I would like to hear more from Webflow itself about how we are going green with our site hosted at Webflow, as we are also already participating in a climate activity and would like to gradually become CO2 neutral with our service as well. It can’t be that our website is considered “dirty” in the process. Sorry.
Hi, this is an important topic. Does Webflow have any plan forward on this subject?
I can only speak for my company, but we will have to stop using Webflow if there is no green hosting alternative in the near future. More and more companies are being rated and reviewed because of what actions they take upon the climate crisis, and more and more companies are being faced with customers turning away if they do not do enough.
I’d probably take the “dirty” wording here with a grain of salt—most companies that we deal with aren’t “clean” by any means—and the site itself states that “the average site uses 1.72g of CO2 per page view”. That means that more folks focused on reducing their web carbon footprint are using the tool, not that 72% of websites run “cleaner” than those hosted on Webflow.
While I’d love for them to be able to offer an alternative, I don’t see them switching their hosting anytime soon. Their goal is to offer 99.99% uptime and it’s hard to offer that claim unless you’re on the type of infrastructure that AWS offers. It’s more likely that AWS will evolve to improve their carbon footprint so that all of the folks on the platform benefit, rather than a “green” option taking the market share. They state they want to be carbon-neutral by 2025 on their website—so maybe we’re not far off from that.
The other sites featured below the fold that they claim are “Beautifully Sustainable” are a bit of a mixed bag—with some of them showing as being at least partially hosted with Amazon in some way. Google Cloud and Cloudflare appear to be some of the other options—both stating that they offer carbon-neutral hosting infrastructures—but I can’t speak for their truthfulness here. Either way, it would appear this is a common goal by most of the big players in the space so I’d imagine it won’t be long before they all make a similar “carbon-neutral” claim.
With that said, Webflow has always offered the ability to export the code to host elsewhere—albeit without the benefit of their CMS, form processing, e-commerce, or site search—so that means that you’re free to choose the hosting option that works best for you (and the perception of your company). This means that you’re missing out on a lot of what makes Webflow great, but there are tons of “no-code” or “low-code” options out there to help you fill in the gaps.
If your company is focused on being eco-friendly in all facets of its business then this is something I’d keep my attention on. If big cloud hosting players don’t change their practices then you can always export the code and host your Webflow site(s) on platforms that already have. My guess is that it’s not long before most cloud hosting options move the way of a more “green” infrastructure.
Thank you so much for connecting with us regarding green web hosting and sustainability efforts. This is near and dear to each of our hearts at Webflow.
Webflow is carbon neutral via our efforts with Pachama.
We’re also discussing the possibility of more investment in initiatives such as carbon sequestration, recapture, to push Webflow towards the path of carbon negative emissions. Finding that balance between speed, service and sustainability is key.
Please let me know if you have any questions or additional ideas. Thank you again so much!
Thank you for sharing this beautiful insight Waldo. I’m intrigued why this isn’t expressed on your marketing/as a page named say “Environment” or “sustainability” where you share how near and dear this message is to Webflow. Right now if I didn’t find this comment id be looking elsewhere but it’s the only thing now keeping me interested in Webflow. There is a HUGE gap in the market, currently, it seems there are no Planet-focused zero code website creators available. We are in a climate crisis and this needs to be taken far more seriously. Our internet emissions 3.7% are equal to that of aviation!
The main interest is your actions for now and the future. Investing in renewable energy sourced servers in the first place rather than carbon offsetting.
We’re a creative studio on wheels, cycling around the world helping to inspire and bring insight to what’s happening with all injustices present, especially the vegan movement how animals are exploited, and how everything is linked to Climate Change. For us, it feels very contradictory to have a website that is contributing to this.
We hope this seed receives love and grows into an epic Webflow Forest!
Hey @Waldo… thanks for sharing this info. I’ve just looked at this website ‘Pachama’. How I understand it, Webflow supports quality forest carbon by giving out money for planting trees? Is that correct?
How much of this info is provided by Webflow?..
Together we protected 1,365,207 hectares of forest!?!
What are you doing about lowering carbon emissions through a data centre option?
Why doesn’t Webflow create an Environmental Section on their website so all of us who support Webflow can understand their actions and delivery in caring for the environment? If you do this, then we can share the good news and help Webflow gain an upperhand in this eco-sustainable market which can only be a good thing… n’est-ce pas??
Hi @matthewpmunger just to add to this discussion, when will webflow look to use all green hosting? Or at least help us understood where our data is being stored. If we’re in the UK there is a number of options for lower emissions with AWS. I’d like to see more action rather than offsets!
I pride our company on helping climate-conscious and sustainability-driven startups and LOVE building on Webflow. That said, questions are being raised by clients about the poor scores achieved, with a particularly painful point on hosting (the biggest impact!)
See a recent website I created recently, scoring on the WORST 2% of all websites tested…
Can someone form the Webflow team address these concerns?
For us, we will definitely be looking at moving away from Webflow in the future if this continues to be the case.
! Screenshot 2023-02-17 113948|690x410
This is nice but not very transparent, what are webflow’s hosting emissions as a business and per kb/website/etc?
AWS have dashboards that show the carbon emissions / energy usage of every process, application, etc so teams can measure and improve, or offset. This would be an amazing feature for Webflow, and our clients all want it.
I think about this daily while working in Webflow.
It even looks like community members are trying to find solutions to pair the value that Webflow provides with carbon reduction tactics. (Unfortunately most of these seem to violate Webflows ToS)
Really would like to see a more active focus and effort here from Webflow.
