Going Green

In the latter half of 2009, we at Pixel Sweatshop, decided we were going to do everything we could to go green. Not because it is the "thing" to do, but because it aligns with our own personal values. In researching what we could do, we found a number of checklists for companies looking to go green. Unfortunatly, every list suggested recycling, using eco-friendly cleaning products and buying energy efficient electronics. We were already doing that! So, we came up with our own and we've decided to share our checklist with you.

Go completely virtual

We have no offices or storefront. Our team members work from wherever they choose.  We convene regular conference calls, video chats, and meetings in IRC with our staff and our clients. This way we eliminate the biggest footprint of all- The car.

Speed up our site

Slow sites also take up more energy. Not only does every server request consume energy, the more time people spend waiting for the site to load, the more energy is consumed. We have redone our site, optimized the code and zoom!

Provide options for visitors to share info from our site, without the use of paper (or at least minimize it!).

Although we have gone completly paperless, it doesn't mean everyone else has.We've decided to make it easier for users of our website to print printer-friendly pages, or send/save a pdf copy of content of our site. See the toolbar in the footer of our new site.

Join the 350 lbs. Project

BrighterPlanet has launched a program called The 350 Challenge.  By placing a badge on our web site, they will offset 350 lbs. of CO2 on your behalf. We did it and we have the badge to prove it!

Use environmentally friendly web hosting

This has been a long struggle. It has been very difficult to find a hosting company that truly runs on wind, solar, geo-thermal energy. A lot of companies claim to do so, but when you dig deeper, they just buy carbon credits to off-set their impact. Another hang-up is finding a company that provides all of the features we need for us and our clients. There seems to be a trade-off when going to a greener host. You get less for more money. Which is true for most greener producs. So, we will continue in our search for the perfect balance between reliability, affordability and greenability (If that's even a word).

Go completely paperless

We have constructed a new client area that allows clients to view and pay invoices, submit support reqests, view project timelines, store their project materials. This are also allows us to communicate with our staff,all in one spot. All of this is now done without the use of paper.

Help us to come up with other unique and actually useful ways we can be greener. Share your comments below.