Wanicare launches new website

Today we live in a highly digital world, and the use of our laptops and smartphones is a growing burden on our environment. With every click, social view, AI prompt, or digital purchase, CO2 emissions are created, hurting our environment, and impacting the wild animals we protect as Wanicare.

An example of these growing problems is that data centers in the Netherlands alone currently use more electricity than the whole of Amsterdam, that is more than 4% of all electricity in the Netherlands! And with the growing use of social media, AI, and other internet resources we need to change our approaches and might need to overthink our habits.

For example, Kruso builds the website with images automatically encoded in AVIF and WEBP formats, resulting in a fraction of mainstream formats like PNG or JPEG images. Using them at 95% of the quality means that while indistinguishable from a full-quality image, the file size is 6x smaller.

The website relies on a minimum of JavaScript, which is relatively inefficient. By taking full advantage of the features offered by the latest HTML and CSS specifications, we were able to implement a thoroughly modern look and feel with almost no JavaScript code.

Also, color usage matters too. We use darker, less bright colors that take less energy to render on displays than lighter ones. Therefore, the website site features darker green than bright white, so less energy is used to display the site on devices. There is much more, so if you want to learn more about the Kruso approach, please check the link below.

But all this clever coding and engineering needs to sit somewhere in a data center, and therefore we work with LeafCloud. On their server, the new website requires roughly a mere 4 watts to run, which translates into an estimated 2.5kg of CO2 every year. But that is not where it stops: LeafCloud re-uses the rest heat of its servers directly to heat residential spaces, and as such it reduces emissions of gas usage, returning a net -7kg of Co2 per year for the Wanicare website. This means the already very lean Wanicare website footprint is fully compensated, contributing to our goal of creating the most sustainable website possible.

LeafCloud shows that there are always sustainable options to make, also when it comes to data centers. Although many of the traditional data centers make efforts to switch to cleaner energy, carbon emissions continue to impact the environment following the growing use of social media, Artificial Intelligence, and streaming services.

First and foremost, Wanicare is a humble foundation that wants to create a better world for wildlife in Indonesia. Since Wanicare started almost 15 years ago, we have also focused on education and awareness, and we hope our small website project can do the same. As such, we might inspire you to do two simple things: 

1. Talk to your colleagues inside your organization and possibly use the Website Carbon Calculator to get a discussion going about the digital footprint of your digital channels. 

2. Like so many things, it’s all about behavior. AI applications, social media, and web surfing all come with an environmental impact, so please use them responsibly: For you, generations to come, and for all the animals that live on Earth. 

If you have any questions or want to know more about our website project or the Wanicare Foundation, please reach out to us. https://www.wanicare.com/en-EU/contact-us/ 

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Mahdi Fanidisfani

info@kruso.nl