Digital sustainability
Digital technology is a powerful force shaping our everyday lives. It can help reduce carbon emissions, bring people together and enhance sustainable practice.
However, there is also a carbon cost to the use of digital technology. As we meet the digital needs of our users, we are also working to reduce the environmental impact of our digital footprint.
Why digital sustainability?
Implementing sustainable practices on our website is good for the planet but it’s also good for our users.
- Sustainable websites are faster, more accessible, and easier to use.
- Digital users are more likely to abandon a site or service if it takes too long to start their task
- Some of our users may have slow connections and older devices. They may live in rural areas of the UK or in parts of the world where data is prohibitively expensive or limited. Bloated websites are harder for users with limited connections or data.
- Users appreciate shorter user journeys and save energy by reducing the time spent online and the number of pages loaded for users to accomplish their goals.
- Search engines will rank slow-loading pages lower than better-performing pages.
Promoting digital-first options
We’re working with our teams to help them shift toward electronic documents, online feedback, and digital course materials.
Five year impact so far
- We have reduced our print volumes by approximately 79%.
- We have preserved an estimated 25 trees.
- Our CO2 output has been reduced by produced by 9,019 kg.
- We have saved 567,904 equivalent light bulb hours.
- We have reduced toner waste reduced by approximately 33% and saved an estimated £25k savings in paper and power usage.
Smarter printing policies
- Default settings: double-sided, black and white.
- Secure pull printing to avoid waste.
- Promoting redirection of larger jobs to production print services to minimise costs.
- Print quotas and usage monitoring.
Greener infrastructure
- Reducing the total number of devices across campus. Phase 1 from 93 to 63 is due for implementation by end of July 2025.
- Ensuring all devices use power-saving modes.
Eco-friendly supplies
- 100% recycled paper in all jobs – PEFC and FSC-certified papers used in print jobs (this is for jobs that come through production print or for the MFDs).
- Sustainable inks and toner return programs - Recycles used toner cartridges, toner bottles, and ink cartridges. Collected toner cartridges are partially recycled for use as Environmental Contribution Toners (EC Toners).
- Phasing out plastic covers and lamination.
Digital sustainability (excluding stir.ac.uk)
Optimise cloud and infrastructure usage
- Migrate legacy systems to energy-efficient cloud services.
- Audit and decommission unused virtual machines, servers, or test environments.
- Enable auto-scaling and scheduled shutdowns for dev/test resources to avoid 24/7 power use.
Extend hardware lifecycles
- Promote reuse and refurbishment of staff/student devices where possible.
Promote smart device and power management
- Roll out automated power-saving settings across all managed devices.
- Educate staff/students on turning off monitors, peripherals, and PCs when not in use.
- Encourage lower energy modes in labs, libraries, and study spaces.
Sustainable procurement and vendor management
Choose vendors with clear climate action plans, sustainable supply chains, and repairability ratings.
Digital literacy and engagement
- Run campaigns to promote awareness among staff and students.
- Include eco-friendly digital habits in onboarding and digital skills training.
Policy and reporting
- Embed digital sustainability in IT strategy or digital transformation plans.
stir.ac.uk digital sustainability
Images
Images are one of the biggest sources of data storage and transfer, and therefore carbon emissions. We optimise images to the smallest size possible before we upload them to the website. We also remove assets and images from our media library that are no longer in use.
We use lazy loading which delays the loading of images and other resources until they are needed by the user. This can reduce the amount of data that needs to be transferred when a page is first loaded.
Minifying code
Minification involves compressing our code by removing whitespace, comments, and redundant syntax, resulting in smaller file sizes and faster load times.
Beyond minification, we continually refine our codebase by eliminating unused assets and updating our implementations to benefit from emerging browser technologies.
Sustainable hosting
We use Amazon Web Services (AWS) for the main website, our Content Management System and our search platforms.
Third-party code
Controlling third-party code: many third-party additions to the website (tracking pixels, chat, embedded forms etc) are only required in certain areas of the site, or under certain conditions. These are all managed using Google Tag Manager, and we write complex rules to ensure they are only loaded on pages where needed.
Caching
Caching involves storing frequently accessed or reused page components like logos and scripts, in the user’s browser or on the server. This makes pages load much faster when users move around the website or make repeat visits, and significantly reduces the amount of data that needs to be transferred.
Website performance
We regularly check the website performance using Google’s Page Speed tool and use the guidance provided by Core Web Vitals to inform optimal code design.
Content Distribution Network (CDN) for images
We have implemented a Content Distribution Network (CDN) for images. When a user visits our website, their browser will be served content from the geographically closest CDN server.
This can help to reduce the distance that data needs to travel, which can lead to faster loading times for our users and reduced carbon emissions.
CDNs can reduce website carbon emissions by up to 42% (Source: BBC)
Converting images to WebP format
We also plan to investigate automated conversion of images to WebP format. WebP is a better image format than JPEG as it offers smaller file sizes, better image quality, and support for transparency. WebP images can be up to 34% smaller than JPEG images at the same quality level.
This can lead to faster loading times, less bandwidth usage and significantly reduced carbon emissions.
stir.ac.uk accessibility
Accessibility is about giving everyone equitable access to our website. We are consistently in the Top 5 on Sitemorse’s university rankings for accessibility.
Student laptop policy and Ecosia
We have several initiatives on digital sustainability away from the website, including saving carbon emissions through lending laptops and using the Ecosia search engine to plant trees.
The university runs a scheme where students can borrow a laptop rather than purchase. This results in lower CO2 emissions, than if the student bought a new device for university. This scheme also helps students save money.
If 200 students per annum chose not to purchase a device but use University facilities instead, we calculate it reduces carbon emissions by 113,000 KG.
Planting trees by internet searches
Ecosia uses 100% of its profits for the planet and produces enough renewable energy to power all searches twice over. By installing Ecosia on student laptops, our students’ internet searches are helping to combat climate change. Their searches alone have planted 8,829 trees in the last year.