How can we reduce our footprint and impact on the environment? This is a question we have in common with Thomas Lemaire, a fullstack developer for almost 20 years, and a member of the GreenIT collective. Far from green washing , we wanted to know more about the pillars of eco-design, and how web performance can contribute to it.
Fasterize: What prompted you to join the GreenIT collective?
Thomas Lemaire : Personally, I am sensitive to issues related to the environment, the preservation of resources and sustainable development, and I also want to contribute to the discussion and provide solutions as a professional. The collective was founded in 2004 by Frédéric Bordage, and I joined it “officially” in 2019. I am developing expertise in measuring the impact of digital technology on the environment, and I work with public authorities, local authorities and the general public to raise awareness of the impact of digital technology on the environment. This impact is obviously measured in the short term, and in the long term for non-renewable resources.
Indeed, we must preserve digital resources because in 1 to 2 generations, we will be faced with the problem of the profitability of metal mines used to manufacture the equipment we use every day, including to go on the internet.
This is why we must move towards sobriety in terms of energy consumption and natural resources; it is the cornerstone of our approach to reducing both our ecological and economic footprint.
Fasterize: What are the challenges of eco-design and how to implement it?
TL : Eco-design must intervene at the level of digital services as a whole , and not just at the level of software development. Software is immaterial, and it changes the state of the hardware. This is why software cannot be eco-designed in isolation; the entire service must be. That is to say, we must also think about terminals, networks and servers, and their life cycle. It is a whole.
Furthermore, we must keep in mind that to reduce our impact on the environment, greenhouse gases are not the only environmental issue. Digital technology is also responsible for the acidification of the oceans , colossal water consumption and its eutrophication , the emission of toxic components for the air and soils , etc.
So, the climate is in the spotlight, and that is very important, but fresh water is often forgotten, while its lack creates tensions in certain regions of the world.
For example, in Chile, the mines where copper is extracted, which is used in particular for the manufacture of computer equipment, consume 2,000 litres of water per second. As a result, people in the surrounding towns cannot take a shower every day, and the waterways are polluted.
In Texas, Google has a project to install its servers in a data center, but it would require 10% of the county’s water to be devoted to this data center project, which is causing tensions with farmers and more generally residents.
So, once the environmental impacts of digital technology have been noted, it is up to us to reduce them! And moving towards greater sobriety is an essential step if we want to preserve our resources and our environment.
Fasterize: If sobriety is the key to eco-design, how can we take concrete action?
TL : Sobriety is indeed fundamental for eco-design. In practice, it is a question, for example, of extending the lifespan of devices; and therefore, the use of a service must be possible with old terminals, otherwise users will want to change them.
If a website is resource-intensive, its use is potentially frustrating or even impossible for owners of old or low-end mobile phones . And here too, these users will want to change their mobile because it is slow. Let’s make them want to keep their computer or mobile longer with services that require fewer resources!
Reducing network resources is also in line with eco-design. If a website works with 3G, it will be possible to use it with old mobiles. In addition, services that consume little bandwidth reduce the risk of network saturation, and therefore the need to set up other networks by superimposing them to deliver this service.
Fasterize: What are the levers and pillars of eco-design? Is web performance one of them?
TL : There are many levers. And of course, web performance is a step towards eco-design . Optimizing files (HTML, JavaScript, CSS, images, etc.) by reducing their size means that terminals, servers and networks are less stressed. Serving a high-performance website with optimized code, compressed images, etc. is part of good practice, and it is a step in the right direction. Eco-designed websites have a good chance of being efficient since they apply the principles of sobriety.
But don’t stop there! For the process to be complete, you need to keep in mind the 3 pillars of eco-design:
- simplicity (of features),
- frugality (only offering what is useful),
- relevance (web accessibility, network, usefulness and usability, performance).
If a service (website or application), even if designed to be efficient, is not relevant, the user may turn on their computer or mobile to access it, and the infrastructure built to deliver this service will be used… for nothing. Indeed, if the experience is not satisfactory or not relevant, the user will leave the service without having used it. These are then wasted resources and energy, and this is precisely what we are trying to avoid as part of an eco-responsible approach. We must therefore observe a service in its entirety, in light of the 3 pillars of eco-design.
Fasterize: Would that mean that even if we want to be responsible, if we forget a step, we can go in the opposite direction of eco-design?
TL : Unfortunately yes, and I will give you some examples.
When using websites, if all resources are loaded on the browser side, the network and data centers are certainly unloaded. But if a heavy web page abuses local storage, we can then reach a limit with a browser that will start to lag and therefore, a feeling of slowness. The opposite of the desired effect!
If we focus on web performance, a website can have a very good server response time ( TTFB ), but this loading speed can be the result of over-equipment on the infrastructure side, which is the opposite of frugality.
Additionally, loading speed can be optimized through lazyloading , but if the browser loads data that is not useful in the background, it is still a waste of resources.
As you will have understood, limiting yourself to the strictly necessary data is central to remaining frugal . And there is not only the data to load, there is also that to store. I am referring here to tracking. It is essential, but often, when we dig, we realize that a lot of data is collected but there is no use afterwards. More waste.
Eco-design therefore involves constantly observing all factors to avoid impact transfers!
Fasterize: Basically, it’s a real balancing act. How can we ensure the relevance and coherence of an eco-design approach?
TL : In the digital world, there are many actions to take to preserve our environment: limiting greenhouse gases, preserving soil, water, air, resources, etc. As I said, we need to have a deeply systemic vision to tick all the boxes, and above all to avoid falling into simplistic traps.
For example, I pointed out that when it comes to preserving the environment, there are more than just greenhouse gases. Well, for an eco-designed service in digital, there is more than just electricity consumption to reduce. This is one indicator among others; we must also ask ourselves the question of where the energy resources come from .
Also, you can replace the equipment in a data center for more energy efficiency, but that doesn’t mean that the service itself will then be “green”, for the reasons we saw a little earlier. Unfortunately, many companies stop at this stage, and are satisfied with it as a marketing argument and to improve their image, when they have only come part of the way.
When it comes to computers, mobile phones, and in general, all digital equipment, the fight against planned obsolescence is underway. But once again, we must take into consideration all aspects of what can lead to the obsolescence of a device.
I will give you the example of a store whose salespeople were equipped with mobile phones. The battery of these smartphones did not hold the charge, and the company decided to replace the entire fleet with models offering better performance, but based solely on the criterion of battery life. Except that these mobiles, apart from their battery, were neither durable nor repairable! Thus, after only 2 years, the mobiles that broke down could not be repaired and had to be replaced again. This waste could have been avoided if all the criteria of performance and durability had been taken into consideration, and not just battery life.
To avoid falling into these pitfalls, we are working with GreenIT to push recommendations to public authorities such as the separation of corrective and evolutionary updates, the extension of support for devices and software and therefore their lifespan… In short, everything that helps reduce the impact of digital technology so that future generations can benefit from it.
And beyond reducing energy and resource consumption, eco-design also promotes inclusivity ! The fewer resources needed to access a service, the more users can benefit from it despite network or hardware constraints.
So, rather than wondering what will happen, we might as well ask ourselves what we already have within reach!
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