TL;DR: We delve deeper in to corporate digital greenwashing. This was initiated by a post on LinkedIn by Sky and them trying to virtue signal about what they are doing to reduce their environmental impact.
The sad reality is, Sky isn’t alone – it’s just they are a very good example of not understanding what it actually means to be sustainable, and how they are being selective in what they are measuring.
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In today’s corporate landscape, sustainability messaging has become as essential as morning tea for British businesses, yet there’s a glaring contradiction that many overlook: the environmental impact of their own websites.
This contradiction & digital greenwashing became starkly apparent when Sky shared a LinkedIn post featuring their sustainability team discussing eco-friendly products, complete with recycling emojis and green promises, whilst their website generates the carbon equivalent of 134 average cars.
The Invisible Carbon Cost of Websites
When we think about carbon emissions, our minds typically wander to obvious culprits: cars, factories, or aeroplanes. What we don’t often consider is the invisible carbon footprint of our digital activities. Every website visit contributes to global CO² emissions through the vast network of data centres, servers, and networks that power the internet.
Sky’s Corporate Digital Greenwashing
Sky’s website provides a telling example.
According to SimilarWeb data, it attracts 72.72 million visits annually, with each visitor browsing an average of 2.55 pages. Using Ecograder measurements, each page load produces 1.53 grams of CO2.
The result?
Sky’s website generates approximately 2.8 million kilograms of CO² annually – equivalent to 134 average cars driving 10,000 miles each year.
And this is just one company. The same calculations apply across lots of industries, we’ve highlighted similar issues with Michelin Green Star restaurants
The Sustainability Paradox
This creates what we might call the sustainability paradox of modern business. Companies invest heavily in renewable energy, efficient operations, and sustainable products, yet simultaneously operate websites that generate emissions equivalent to hundreds of cars.
Every time someone visits a company’s sustainability page, they’re contributing to the very emissions the company claims to be reducing.
This isn’t necessarily about hypocrisy. Digital emissions are invisible and difficult to conceptualise. When a company switches to LED lighting, the benefit is tangible. When they optimise their website’s carbon footprint, the impact is equally real but far less obvious.
A Systemic Industry Challenge
Sky isn’t unique. Across industries, financial services companies promote paperless banking whilst operating carbon-intensive websites, and fashion retailers champion sustainable clothing through e-commerce platforms that churn through server resources at alarming rates, Shopify is a great example of this.
We’ve built a digital economy that prioritises user experience and visual appeal without considering environmental impact. Modern corporate websites feature auto-playing videos, dozens of tracking scripts, high-resolution galleries, and complex animations that look impressive but require significant processing power and generate substantial emissions.
How Businesses Can Shrink Their Digital Footprint without Digital Greenwashing.
Addressing this challenge requires more than website optimisation, though that’s crucial. Companies need a holistic approach to digital sustainability, including choosing renewable energy web hosting, optimising images and videos, minimising resource-intensive features, better selection of colours, and regularly auditing environmental efficiency.
Some companies are already leading by example. Ancient Shepherds by Mark Poynton, a restaurant website built to run with a fraction of the energy of typical corporate sites, demonstrates how thoughtful design and optimisation can maintain functionality whilst dramatically reducing carbon footprint.
Technical solutions alone aren’t enough. Companies need to fundamentally shift how they think about digital presence, extending environmental consideration from packaging and supply chains to websites and digital infrastructure.
The Marketing Inconsistency Problem
When companies promote sustainability through carbon-intensive channels, they risk undermining their own credibility with environmentally conscious consumers. Today’s consumers easily spot inconsistencies between what companies say and do, and this scepticism can persist even when companies are making significant improvements elsewhere.
A Path Forward
The solution isn’t for companies to stop communicating about sustainability – environmental communication drives crucial awareness and change. Instead, companies must ensure their communication channels align with their environmental values.
This might involve investing in website optimisation, choosing responsible hosting providers, or acknowledging their digital impact whilst committing to improvement. Transparency and honesty often resonate more strongly with consumers than perfection.
Companies could also consider alternative approaches: using lower-impact channels for messaging, offsetting digital marketing emissions, or using environmental communications to educate customers about digital carbon footprints.
The Bigger Picture
The Sky example illustrates a larger challenge: businesses must consider environmental impact across all operations, including digital activities. As these account for increasing shares of global carbon emissions, companies can no longer treat online presence as environmentally inconsequential, else they’ll face the accusation of digital greenwashing.
Companies building credible sustainability credentials will take comprehensive approaches, recognising that environmental and digital responsibility are now inseparable. Those addressing this early will be better positioned to build genuine relationships with environmentally conscious customers.
Moving Forward
Digital activity has a real carbon footprint. Companies aligning their websites with their sustainability claims will earn credibility – those who don’t risk losing it. In an age where environmental responsibility is becoming a business imperative, consistency across all channels isn’t just good practice; it’s essential for maintaining trust.
