This article is a part of the series “How I got into sustainable web design“, a three-part series about my background and how I got into sustainable web design.
The pivotal moment that led me to where I am today.
One day, I stumbled upon an Instagram post from Michelle, Creative Director and founder of Minty Made, sustainable branding, and web design business. She shared that she’s reading a book, “Sustainable Web Design,” written by Tom Greenwood. The book is about how to design a more planet-friendly website. At that moment, I traced the link to an online book store and purchased that book without a second thought.
I went down the rabbit hole of sustainable web design from then on. I read the book, looked up Greenwood’s profile, visited his web agency website, googled the topic, and decided to make it my thesis topic for my final paper in the English composition class. Of course, there’s so much unknown, and I wasn’t even sure whether I could wrap up the topic or not. But I took it as an opportunity to study the subject and see how it went.
Throughout the learning and researching process about sustainable web design, everything was clicked. I had never been so sure about my career path until this time. I want to go all-in in this area. Regarding Greenwood’s book and a few more books, I learned about the importance and benefits of green web design, the ways to implement it, and the fact that it’s not being talked about as often as the physical, low-waste lifestyle everybody is familiar with.
Now, I’m all about sustainable web design.
After submitting the English 102 final paper, I jumped into green web design full-on and kept my green, low-waste lifestyle in the background. It’s such an interesting shift when I think about it. I wrote so much about ways to reduce carbon footprint in real life, and now I will start talking about ways to reduce the carbon footprint on the internet.
My targeted audience has also changed accordingly. Now I focus on speaking to people who run a WordPress website or think about doing it and want to make it more planet-friendly. So not only do I aim to connect with companies in the sustainability space, but I also wish to connect with individuals who care about their website’s impact on the environment.
Last thoughts before we kick start this journey together.
Although I haven’t been in this space for long, I know how to make a website more sustainable because I have done it myself on this blog that you’re on. At the time of writing this article, I’m making more progress by learning and implementing more practices on my website. It’s an eye-opening experience to put the techniques to the test, witness the results, and keep improving the site.
I want to take this opportunity to invite you on this journey with me. Let’s set our goal to make our website leaner, cleaner, and greener by learning sustainable web design and taking action. This is a starting point to building a planet-friendly internet.
That said, head to The brief introduction of sustainable web design to learn about the topic in a nutshell. And stay tuned for more articles!