16 Mar Digital Sustainability: Reducing the Internet’s Hidden Carbon Footprint

Posted at 09:07h in Event Recap by

Earlier this month, the Charlotte B Corp Collective hosted a workshop on Digital Sustainability, led by Jen McFarland, founder of Marit Digital, a fellow NC B Corp. The session brought together local Certified B Corps, aspiring B Corps, and purpose-driven leaders to explore an often overlooked sustainability challenge: the environmental impact of our digital lives.

While the internet feels invisible, the infrastructure behind it is anything but. Websites, cloud storage, streaming services, and data centers all require enormous amounts of energy. In fact, the global digital ecosystem now produces emissions comparable to the aviation industry.

For organizations committed to using business as a force for good, this raises an important question: How can we design and operate digital systems more responsibly?

Understanding Digital Sustainability
During the session, Jen McFarland shared practical insights into the growing field of digital sustainability and how businesses can reduce the environmental footprint of their digital operations.

Digital sustainability looks at how websites, software, and everyday online behaviors affect energy use and emissions. Much like sustainable packaging or responsible sourcing, the goal is to design systems that are efficient, thoughtful, and aligned with climate goals.

Participants explored how everyday choices can add up, including:

  • Designing leaner, faster websites
  • Reducing unnecessary data storage and duplicate files
  • Compressing images and optimizing video content
  • Cleaning up outdated cloud storage and digital assets
  • Choosing greener hosting providers and infrastructure
  • Rethinking digital habits such as oversized email attachments

For designers, developers, marketers, and business leaders, these decisions directly influence the energy required to power the web.

A Growing Area of Climate Action
As more of our work, commerce, and communication moves online, digital systems are becoming a larger part of the global carbon footprint. Yet digital sustainability is still a relatively new area of climate action.

Jen’s presentation emphasized that responsible digital practices are not about limiting innovation. Instead, they are about building smarter, more efficient digital experiences that benefit both users and the planet.

For businesses already focused on sustainability, applying the same thinking to websites, platforms, and digital operations is a natural next step.

Resources
For those who attended, or anyone interested in learning more, several resources from the session are available.

You can view Jen McFarland’s Digital Sustainability presentation slides here

Marit Digital also maintains a curated collection of tools and learning materials related to digital sustainability. Their resource library is an excellent place to continue exploring the topic: maritdigital.com/resources

Building a Community of Learning
Events like this reflect the mission of the Charlotte B Corp Collective: bringing together businesses and leaders who believe business can be a force for good.

By sharing knowledge, challenging assumptions, and learning from one another, we strengthen the ability of businesses across our region to create meaningful social and environmental impact.

A sincere thank you to Jen McFarland and Marit Digital for leading such a thoughtful and timely conversation, and to everyone who joined us.

The path to sustainability is always evolving, and conversations like this help move the work forward.