How to reduce your small business’ digital footprint

Every click, search, and stored file contributes to your digital footprint. While this might seem insignificant, the environmental impact of our digital activity is growing. For small businesses, reducing their digital footprint isn’t just about sustainability – it’s about cutting costs, improving efficiency, and enhancing brand reputation.

In this guide, we’ll discuss practical strategies small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can implement to minimise their digital footprint, including energy efficiency, digital minimalism, green technology, and website optimisation.

Understanding your digital footprint

Before diving into technical solutions, Keziah Cowan, Associate Director at Quality Company Formations, emphasises: “Businesses should always be aware of their carbon footprint. Understanding their current impact is the first step to making necessary reductions. They can use environmental consultants for this.”

What is a digital footprint?

A digital footprint refers to the trail of data and energy consumption created by online activity. It can be classified into two types:

• Active digital footprint: Information intentionally shared online, such as social media posts, emails, and website content.
• Passive digital footprint: Data collected without a user’s direct input, such as website visits, cookies, clicks on links, and stored server logs.

The environmental impact of digital growth

Digital technologies are responsible for an estimated 8-10% of global energy consumption and contribute 2-4% of total greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock directly contributes about 5% of emissions, roughly double the share of the aviation industry. These figures highlight the often-overlooked environmental footprint of our digital world.

The amount of data generated annually has also grown each year since 2010. According to estimates, 402.74 million terabytes of data are created each day. In fact, it’s estimated that 90% of the world’s data was generated in the last two years.

How can your business minimise its digital footprint?

A hidden cost of digital growth is rising energy consumption and carbon emissions. Our digital habits significantly impact the environment, from the data centres we use to our everyday online activity. The good news? Businesses can take control of their digital footprint and drive meaningful change.

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By optimising energy efficiency, reducing unnecessary data storage, and making smart IT choices, companies can lower CO2 emissions, cut costs, and improve operational performance. In the following sections, we’ll explore key strategies, such as digital decluttering, eco-friendly hosting, and sustainable hardware practices, which help businesses create a more sustainable digital presence.

Virtualisation

Virtualisation is a smart solution for small businesses looking to reduce their digital footprint and operate more sustainably. By running multiple systems on fewer physical servers, businesses can cut energy use, reduce electronic waste, and utilise their IT resources better. This lowers costs while helping companies meet their sustainability goals. Virtualisation also improves flexibility, disaster recovery, and overall efficiency, making adapting to changing business needs easier.

As Daniel Papachan, IT Systems Engineer at Quality Company Formations, explains:

Adopting a sustainable model for legacy applications isn’t always straightforward. In some cases, upgrading them for cloud migration isn’t worth the effort. But by virtualising them, businesses can achieve a quick win until they’re ready to rearchitect with cloud-native technologies.

Energy efficiency

Data centres, cloud computing, and heavy device usage consume vast amounts of energy. As of October 2024, data centres alone consume approximately 1% of global electricity. Their annual energy use equates to nearly half of the total electricity consumed by household IT devices like computers, phones, and TVs. In the UK, Bionic’s research revealed that a small business’ average energy consumption is between 15,000 and 25,000 kWh.

First, businesses can optimise their energy consumption by using energy-efficient devices and preferring ENERGY STAR®-certified hardware. ENERGY STAR®-certified computers and imaging products use up to 35% less energy than standard equipment, meaning your company can enjoy savings on its utility bills while reducing its overall carbon footprint.

Cloud migration to reduce CO2 emissions

Data centres are among the most energy-intensive elements of the internet, but cloud migration can make this significantly more efficient.

Explore eco-friendly or green hosting providers powered by renewable energy. To help your search, consider resources like the guide on the “7 Best Green Web Hosting Companies UK” by Ben Hardman, founder of Tiny Eco, for recommendations on sustainable website hosting.

It’s important to recognise that your business can’t reduce every emission. For processes that can’t be eliminated entirely, consider offsetting your remaining carbon footprint with services such as Carbon Neutral Britain, which we use at Quality Company Formations, or solutions tailored to digital emissions like Cloud Carbon Footprint.

Optimising cloud storage practices also plays a critical role. Why not switch to a renewable-powered cloud service like Google Cloud, which offers eco-friendly hosting?

Krystal: A web-hosting provider and UK leader in sustainable digital infrastructure

Krystal is a UK web-hosting provider that’s a pioneer in sustainable digital infrastructure. Transparency and long-term sustainability underpin the company’s values, and since 2017, Krystal has powered its entire hosting infrastructure with 100% renewable energy. Krystal works with Ecotricity to source electricity from wind, solar, and marine power and has partnered with Ecologi to ensure its own workforce offsets work-related emissions.

Krystal’s impact doesn’t stop there. The company funded 38 global carbon avoidance projects, including preserving critical biodiversity in Guatemala and supporting clean hydropower in Uganda. Its latest milestone – achieving B Corp Certification – cements its commitment to ethical, sustainable business practices.

The company has also taken an industry-leading stance in reforestation efforts. With an ambitious pledge to conserve, restore, or grow 1 billion trees by 2030, Krystal demonstrates that digital infrastructure can be innovative and environmentally responsible.

Digital decluttering

Businesses often store more data than needed. This results in increased server loads and energy use. Digital minimalism refers to cutting unnecessary consumption and improving efficiency. In its Data Waste Index report, NetApp revealed that the average organisation spends £300,000 per year storing data. However, 41% of the data stored by organisations in the UK is unused or unwanted.

The report also highlighted that only a fifth of IT professionals are working to identify unused and unwanted data yearly, despite 74% of IT leaders believing that better data management could reduce carbon emissions.

If your small business is looking to minimise its digital footprint, we recommend: 

• conducting regular audits of digital storage 
• deleting redundant emails, old backups, and unused applications 
• implementing automated deletion policies for temporary files 
• using lightweight, cloud-based tools instead of resource-heavy software 

Sustainable IT hardware

To reduce your business’ environmental impact and promote responsible resource management, your IT team should implement sustainable hardware practices. These can involve the following strategies:

1. Sustainable procurement and lifecycle management

Adopting a sustainable procurement strategy ensures environmental, social, and economic factors are considered throughout the equipment lifecycle. Your organisation can take steps to reduce its ecological footprint and align with its corporate social responsibility goals.

For example, London-based IT solutions company, Ethical IT, offers sustainable procurement and hardware lifecycle management services, enabling organisations to enhance their environmental responsibility through zero-waste recycling partnerships. It specialises in delivering high-quality, cost-effective, and sustainable IT solutions to charities, social enterprises, community groups, voluntary organisations, and SMEs.

Sustainability is at the core of everything it does. The company uses these guiding pillars:

• Environmental – minimising its carbon footprint wherever possible, both within its operations and for clients.
• Economic – ensuring fair pricing and fostering long-term, value-driven client relationships.
• Social – supporting a healthy work-life balance through flexible working and championing networks like 1% for the Planet.

2. Refurbished and energy-efficient devices 

Choosing refurbished IT equipment extends the lifespan of devices, conserves resources, and reduces electronic waste. Companies like Techbuyer specialise in providing high-quality refurbished IT hardware, offering a sustainable alternative that meets performance standards and minimises environmental impact.

3. Responsible e-waste recycling programmes 

Correctly recycling and disposing of end-of-life IT equipment helps stop hazardous materials from harming the environment. E-waste is the most hazardous part of the waste stream, so businesses should partner with certified e-waste recyclers to ensure devices are disposed of responsibly. Services in the UK like XMA’s Circular Economy Managed Service (CEMS) help businesses securely recycle outdated hardware.

As Luke Bennison, Head of Circular Economy at XMA, says, “[It] isn’t just about reducing waste – it’s about transforming your hardware lifecycle into a strategic asset that supports both your business goals and the planet”.

Website optimisation

Optimising your website is crucial for minimising its digital energy consumption and environmental impact. Poorly optimised websites load slower, consume more data, and increase server demand, leading to higher energy usage.

Consider the following best practices to reduce your business’ website energy consumption:

1. Efficient coding practices: Streamline your website’s code by removing unnecessary elements, minimising HTTP requests, and optimising scripts. Cleaner code reduces the processing power required to load pages, decreasing energy consumption.
2. Optimising media: Compress images and media files to reduce their size. This lowers the amount of data transferred during page loads, leading to faster load times and reduced energy use.
3. Choosing green hosting providers: These are powered by renewable energy sources, so your website’s energy has a lower carbon footprint. 
4. Implementing caching systems: Use browser and server-side caching to temporarily store frequently accessed data. This reduces repeated data retrieval from servers, decreasing energy usage.
5. Responsive web design: Your website should adapt to different devices and screen sizes. This enhances user experience and avoids multiple site versions, conserving resources.

Beyond technical website optimisation, consider streamlining your digital communications. Reducing what is sent – such as by segmenting email campaigns and deploying targeted PPC ads – helps focus resources and energy on high-conversion audiences only.

Additionally, using cloud-based collaboration tools instead of lengthy email chains can reduce your digital footprint while enhancing team productivity. At Quality Company Formations, we use tools like Trello to manage assignments and collaborate on projects, as these leave a smaller digital footprint compared to long email threads.

Leveraging content delivery networks

A content delivery network (CDN) is a smart way to boost website speed and reduce energy use. It serves content from the nearest server instead of continuously requesting data from the primary hosting site. This reduces data travel, lowers energy consumption, and improves performance.

Benefits for your small business of using a CDN include:

• Faster load times: Content reaches users quicker, improving their experience.
• Lower bandwidth use: Less strain on servers means better performance and cost savings.
• Stronger security: Many CDNs include built-in Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) protection to keep your website secure.

When exploring CDN providers, ensure they prioritise sustainability. Look for services that:

• Use renewable energy: Choose providers that power their data centres with green energy.
• Have clear environmental policies: Select partners actively working to reduce their carbon footprint. For example, Fastly prioritises sustainability by optimising data caching and delivery, minimising computational waste, and improving efficiency.
• Optimise efficiency: Check for a low power usage effectiveness (PUE) score, meaning the data centres waste less energy.

Switching to a sustainable CDN is good for the planet and your website’s speed, safety, and cost-effectiveness.

Take action and minimise your business’ digital footprint

Reducing your business’ digital footprint is a smart business move. A more efficient digital infrastructure leads to lower operational costs, faster performance, and a stronger reputation for your business. As more consumers and organisations prioritise sustainability, SMEs that act now will contribute to reducing environmental harm while gaining a competitive edge.

Small businesses can build a more sustainable digital presence by making thoughtful changes, benefiting both their bottom line and the planet. Looking for expert guidance on building a future-proof, greener business? Check out the QCF blog or comment with any questions you have.