Environmental Statement
Last updated Jul 26, 2024
Here at the Lobster Consultants, we’re passionate about creating great designs and effective marketing while mitigating our impact on the planet where we can. It’s simple: our love for design and our duty to the environment is part of what we do. We’re committed to delivering projects that catch the eye, serve their purpose, and deliver on our green policy. It’s not just about looking good or being clever with strategy; it’s being thoughtful about our environmental impact.
Developing a Net Zero Emission Plan
In developing our Net Zero Emissions Plan, we have set clear targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Our strategies include implementing energy-efficient practices and technologies to minimise energy consumption, transitioning to renewable energy sources where possible, and investing in carbon offsetting projects to balance any unavoidable emissions. Our comprehensive approach ensures that we systematically reduce our carbon footprint and work towards achieving net zero emissions. To date, we have achieved the following targets.
Putting Ideas Into Action
So, what does this mean for the work we do?
- Streamlined Workspace and Email Practices
We use many forms of workspace and email management systems, ranging from Office 365, Google Workspace and locally hosted IMAP configurations. Where possible we encourage businesses to bring their computing systems to the Cloud where security can be better managed, productivity increased and reliance on printed materials decreases. Streamlining workspace practices enables businesses to reduce their carbon footprint, and when using our IMAP configurations which are run on 100% renewable energy servers reduce their digital carbon footprint too. - 100% Renewable Energy Website Hosting
When running your website, our locally hosted green servers substantially reduce your digital carbon footprint. All our Vultr servers and websites can be hosted in the UK, Eastern US, and several European countries using 100% renewable energy sources(1) to power them, making your digital presence far more sustainable. It’s a straightforward switch with a meaningful impact that’s often overlooked. - Reduced Data Storage
Every website we develop is improved with our class-leading performance tools designed to minimise digital storage needs and accelerate the delivery of data. Our experience has shown that compressing images, videos, and scripting files, in tandem with deploying our ultra-fast Content Delivery Network (CDN), can substantially lower CO2 emissions.At Lobster Consultants, we represent the principle that what you present to the world should reflect your best effort. By examining our own website, lobsterconsultants.co.uk, we’ve successfully reduced the size of our images by over 53%, while also optimising and deferring over 100 JavaScript and CSS files. To illustrate the impact, consider a webpage containing 1MB of data. For every visit, this page produces 20 grams of CO2(2). With 100,000 visits a month, that’s a total of 2000kg of CO2. However, by applying our performance optimisation tools, we’re able to cut down emissions by as much as 1060kg per month. Coupled with our commitment to using servers powered entirely by renewable energy, we’re not just developing websites—we’re ensuring they operate sustainably.
- Local Content Delivery Networks
In today’s digital age, Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are the superheroes of the internet, ensuring smooth, fast, and engaging online experiences. But did you know these networks also pack a powerful punch in the fight against climate change? By smartly caching content across various global locations, CDNs not only slash the distance data has to travel, but they also significantly cut down on latency and boost speed. This isn’t just good news for your browsing experience; it’s a win for our planet too. Less travel time means reduced energy use and lower carbon emissions, contributing to a healthier environment. - Carbon Offsetting
We use British Carbon Offsetting initiatives to achieve our net zero emission plan. We have subscribed to the carbonneutralbritain.org (3) team planting over 30 trees a month and offsetting 60 tonnes of CO2 each year. In addition to this, we are a part of the Ecologi (4) carbon offsetting program where at the end of the year our carbon report will help us to identify our carbon footprint and further offset this by funding wildflower, wetland, and wildlife habitat restoration in Britain. Sustainable Office Practices
As a business, we operate exclusively from our home, with all meetings undertaken via virtual software or over the phone. In recent years we have found that we are able to operate just as effectively from home, whilst reducing our overheads, carbon emissions and waste. Our decision has further reached social benefits, where we prioritise quarterly out-of-office events for all our team members to attend helping bring the team closer together.Volunteering Program
Whilst we don’t currently volunteer within our local community it is something we are looking to do. In all of our towns and villages, there are voluntary schemes, for instance, in Cheltenham, we are exploring various social support schemes such as cooking for the homeless and painting community spaces.
Our commitment to making our physical and online practices green influences our work – from the initial web build and marketing strategies to the end products and their digital footprint. We’ve implemented cloud-based solutions to minimise printed materials, locally hosted green servers powered by renewable energy, and developed performance tools that shrunk our digital storage and carbon emissions. Every choice, from using carbon offsetting initiatives to optimising websites and relying on local CDNs, reflects our commitment to decreasing our carbon footprint.
(1) https://wpmudev.com/docs/hosting/overview/#locations-regions
(2) https://thijsbiersteker.com/mbco2
