Our eco-design approach
How much carbon does a web page weigh?
The carbon footprint of a website depends largely on the number of visits it receives. This parameter is therefore used as a benchmark to assess its impact.
Using the open source tool ecoindex-cli, we calculated that the average footprint of a page on the ekodev website is 1.63 g of CO₂. Over a full year, this represents approximately 466.74 kg of CO₂ emissions.
The environmental impact of a page is expressed in terms of its equivalent greenhouse gas emissions and freshwater consumption for a given number of visitors. It varies depending on the level of eco-design of the site.
In comparison, research conducted by GreenIT.fr estimates that an “average” web page generates approximately 2 g CO₂ eq. and consumes 3 cl of blue water.
To learn more and put these figures into perspective, visit impactco2.fr.
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158 321 km en tgv
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2 132 km en voiture
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13 chauffage au gaz
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64 repas avec du boeuf
A global approach to eco-design
Weight reduction
and the complexity of the website.
Measurement and monitoring
of an impact score using a recognized tool, eco-index-cli.
Continuous improvement
Implementation of a continuous improvement process.
Raising awareness
among our internal and external stakeholders to adhere to the approach of reducing the impact of our digital footprint.
A continuous improvement approach
Eco-design is an ongoing process: we are constantly seeking to further reduce our impact. The first step was taken during the design and development of the ekodev website. It was audited, and the score obtained now serves as our starting point for further progress.
By monitoring the footprint of each page, we can observe the evolution of the site over time and identify the actions to be implemented to continue improving our results.
The eco-design studio of Agence 148
On a technical level, the redesign of our website was supported by Agence 148's eco-design studio, which is certified in eco-design for digital services. To guide and monitor optimization efforts, the studio drew on several references: the checklist of 115 eco-design best practices developed by Frédéric Bordage, as well as the Google Lighthouse and Ecoindex tools.
Agence 148's eco-design studioThe key challenges
- Minimize the number of requests required to load each page.
- Simplify the page structure by reducing the number of elements displayed.
- Optimize the size of images and downloaded resources.
But also...
- Reduction in animations
- Reduction in the use of images
- Reduction in page complexity
- Focus on essential features
- Monitoring page scores
- Communicating our scores and our approach
- Identifying areas for improvement
We value your feedback!
Please feel free to contact us to discuss this topic and share your experience with us! Thanks to you, we are making progress!
Digital technology: a heavy burden on the environment?
Digital technology now accounts for 10% of French electricity consumption (source: Ademe). In concrete terms, this equates to each of us:
- Consuming the equivalent of a 1,000-watt radiator left on continuously for 30 days,
- Or the carbon footprint of a 2,259 km car journey – to give you an idea, that’s the distance from Strasbourg to Marseille… via Lille, Brest, and Bordeaux.
However, the majority of the environmental impact of digital technology does not come from its use, but from the manufacture of the equipment. On average:
- 78% of the impact comes from the production of our smartphones and computers, only 21% is related to their use.
To reduce the impact of usage, we are working to lighten the weight of requests and optimize user journeys. And to address the major impact—manufacturing—we encourage the fight against planned obsolescence and the extended life of devices.
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