Eco Web Hosting’s Sustainability Report for February 2021

We know that our customers take pride in what we’re doing to help the environment and increase our sustainability. As part of our mandate to provide eco-friendly web hosting, we’re delighted to announce that for February 2021, we have planted over 4,500 trees and sponsored two Gold Standard projects.

A mangrove forest at high tide, with the water covering the roots of the trees
Photo from Ecologi

Over 3,000 mangroves planted in Madagascar

For our hosting packages and servers, we purchase trees through Tree-Nation, and this month, we purchased 3,000 Rhizophora mucronata for the Eden Reforestation Project in Madagascar, and we had one Bruguiera gymnorrhiza planted to offset our website. These small mangroves are fantastic for protecting the coastline from tidal erosion, as well as providing a safe space for fish and other wildlife.

Plus, as Ecologi members, we plant trees to offset our employees’ carbon footprint, which means that we planted 39 Avicennia marina and 33 Bruguiera gymnorrhiza in their Maratoala project.

Two women pass a sapling between each other over a large collection of other saplings.
Photo from Tree-Nation

1,400 trees planted in Nepal

Along with our 3,000 mangroves, we also purchased 1,000 Choerospondias axillaris, better known as Lapsi trees, for the Eden Reforestation Project in Nepal. Not only are these trees native to Nepal, but they also produce fruit that makes delicious candies that are very popular across Nepal.

But not only did we buy trees for our customers that have hosting packages and servers, but we also purchased trees this month for customers who transferred their UK domain names over to us. Transferring over is free, and for February, our customers got a nice new tree to go with it!  We also ran two surveys this month to find out more about our customers and planted a tree for each response we received. For these customers, we purchased 400 Cinnamomum tamala, better known as the Indian bay leaf tree, and used in cooking medicine, woodworking, and producing essential oils.

Freshly planted seedlings arranged in groups.
Photo from Ecologi

36 trees planted in Mozambique

Along with planting in Madagascar, Ecologi plants trees in Changalane, Mozambique, and and this month, we planted 15 Strychnos spinosa, 9 Acacia nilotica, and 9 Adansonia digitata, and 3 Trichilia emetica.

Strychnos spinosa is known as the spiny orange tree, producing fruit and leaves that are popular with many African animals. Acacia nilotica is better known as the gum arabic tree, producing that binding agent found in everything from paints to sweets to cocktail syrup. Adansonia digitata is the African baobab tree, known for becoming massive trees with delicious fruit and wonderful shade. And Trichilia emetica is the Natal mahogany, a beautiful flowering evergreen.

A large Atlas cedar tree in a field.
Photo from Tree-Nation

24 cedar trees planted in France

As part of our monthly tree purchase for customers, we decided to try a new tree planting project, and chose the Restauration Forêts Dégradées project in France. Working to fight against bark beetle attacks, foresters in the eastern part of France are diversifying their forests by planting new trees, and we purchased 24 Cedrus atlantica, or Atlas Cedar. These cedar trees are large and stalwart evergreens, mostly used for decoration and do well in hot and dry climates.

A photo of a coffee plant, with red, yellow, and green coffee beans growing.
Photo from Tree-Nation

20 coffee trees in Tanzania

We also had a competition on our Facebook and Twitter pages to win copies of Sustainable Web Design, with 10 trees being planted for each winner. Once we chose our winners, we planted 20 Coffea arabica trees in the Usambara Biodiversity Conservation project in Tanzania. Coffea arabica produces the Arabica coffee bean, known throughout the world for producing your daily cup of coffee. These 20 trees will go nicely with the Newtonia trees we purchased earlier, as the Newtonia trees provide shade for coffee trees.

Photo of the forest in the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve in Nicaragua.
Photo from Ecologi

12 Acacia trees planted in Nicaragua

And finally, in our tree planting spree, Ecologi is helping the Bosawas Biosphere Reserve reforest over 1,300 acres of land. We’ve added 12 more acacias to this collection, giving even more trees to the area and helping the local community protect against illegal loggers.

A view of the Hans Meyer mountain range in Papua New Guinea, with a lush forest filled with palm trees.
Photo from Ecologi

Protecting rainforests in Papua New Guinea

Ecologi also sponsors Gold Standard projects for us, and this month, they sponsored a REDD+ project that is working to protect the tropical forest and biodiversity of the Hans Meyer Range of New Ireland in Papua New Guinea. This mountain range is a wealth of carbon storage and wildlife diversity, and the NIHT Topaiyo project will help protect it from logging and conversion to oil palm plantations by working closely with the local communities and traditional landowners.

A photo of the Wayan Windu geothermal power station in West Java, Indonesia.
Photo from Ecologi

Producing geothermal power in West Java, Indonesia

Ecologi also helped support the development of the Wayang Windu geothermal power station at the base of the twin volcano Wayang-Windu in West Java, Indonesia. Indonesia has around 130 active volcanoes, giving the nation huge potential for producing electricity from this cost-effective, reliable, and sustainable source. Geothermal steam will produce electricity, reducing the country’s dependence on coal and diesel.

Our Impact

Through these projects over the last month, we have reduced our carbon footprint by an additional 350 tonnes, making it over 2300 tonnes since we started – the equivalent of nearly 7km squared of sea ice being saved or nearly 20,000 barrels of oil not being used.

We’ll keep you all up to date with how we’re doing each month in our blog and we hope you are as excited about the work we’ve been doing as we are.