Freelance Sustainable, Low-Carbon Website Consultant

make your website leaner, faster and lower impact

Websites use energy every time pages, images, scripts and other resources are transferred and processed.

I help businesses reduce unnecessary website weight and complexity by improving images, scripts, code, hosting and the way pages are delivered.

The aim is a leaner website that transfers less data, uses fewer unnecessary resources and still does everything your users and business need it to do.

what clients say about working with me

Dave has supported the Carbon Trust with a thorough SEO site audit, as well as invaluable support with techincal fixes, improvements and recommendations. He is very helpful and easy to work with, thanks Dave!

Annie Osbourne
carbontrust.com

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My Approach
Website Carbon Audit
Reducing Website Impact
Hosting & Delivery
Working With Your Team
The Bigger Picture
Ongoing Support
Quick FAQs
Contact Form

I start with reduction rather than labels.

That means looking at how much data the website transfers, which assets and scripts contribute most to page weight, whether third-party services are genuinely useful and whether the hosting and delivery setup could be improved.

The aim is to reduce unnecessary digital overhead without stripping out useful functionality or making claims about sustainability that the available data cannot support.

A website sustainability audit gives you a baseline for where the website is creating unnecessary digital overhead and which changes are likely to make the biggest difference.

I can review:

page weight and data transfer
images and video
JavaScript and third-party scripts
fonts and other external assets
plugins and unnecessary functionality
server requests and page complexity
caching and compression
hosting and delivery
estimated website carbon output

The result is a prioritised list of practical changes rather than a sustainability score with no explanation of what to do next.

A lot of website emissions come from the same things that make websites unnecessarily heavy: oversized images, unused scripts, excessive third-party tools and functionality that continues loading long after anyone has questioned whether it is still needed.

I can identify where those resources are coming from and help reduce, replace or remove them where doing so will not compromise important functionality.

That might mean better image formats, fewer requests, lighter templates, removing redundant plugins or reducing the amount of JavaScript and third-party code loaded on every page.

The efficiency of the website is only one part of the picture. Where and how the site is hosted also contributes to its overall digital footprint.

I can review your current hosting setup and help you assess whether moving to a provider with stronger renewable-energy or sustainability credentials makes practical sense.

I also look at caching, compression and delivery because reducing the amount of data that needs to be transferred repeatedly is useful regardless of which hosting provider you use.

I can work directly with business owners or alongside marketing teams, digital agencies and web developers.

My role is usually to identify where the website can become leaner and lower impact, then turn those findings into practical changes for the people responsible for content, development, hosting or wider digital activity.

If you need broader specialist support across an internal team, you can also find out more about how I work with in-house teams.

Website sustainability overlaps with performance, usability, SEO and technical maintenance because unnecessary digital weight rarely affects only one thing.

A lighter website can be easier to maintain and faster to deliver, while removing unnecessary scripts and plugins can also simplify the wider technical setup.

The goal is not to chase a perfect carbon score. It is to make sensible improvements that reduce unnecessary impact while keeping the website useful, accessible and commercially effective.

Website weight can creep back up as new content, scripts, plugins and integrations are added.

I can provide ongoing or ad-hoc reviews to keep an eye on page weight, third-party code and other areas where unnecessary complexity starts building again.

tracking & reporting

Keeping an eye on performance and making sure your tracking stays accurate.
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performance insights

Digging into your data to spot trends, issues, and opportunities.
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audit & optimisation

Regular reviews and updates to keep your site on track.
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ad-hoc support

Ask a question, get a second opinion, or get help with a one-off job
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want to make your website lighter and lower impact?

If your site has become bloated with scripts, plugins, oversized assets or years of accumulated functionality, tell me what you are working with and I can help identify where the biggest opportunities are.

tell me what you need help with

what is a low-carbon website?

A low-carbon website is designed and maintained to reduce unnecessary data transfer, processing and energy use. That can involve smaller images, lighter pages, fewer scripts, cleaner code, efficient hosting and removing functionality that does not provide enough value.

can you measure the carbon footprint of my website?

I can use available website carbon estimation tools alongside page-weight and technical performance data to establish a useful baseline and identify where the biggest opportunities for reduction are. Website carbon calculations are estimates rather than exact measurements.

can you make my website carbon neutral?

I can help reduce the digital footprint of the website itself, but carbon neutrality is a broader claim that may also involve measurement, hosting, organisational emissions and offsetting. I focus on practical website improvements rather than providing carbon-neutral certification.

what makes a website use more energy?

Common causes include oversized images and video, unnecessary JavaScript, third-party scripts, large fonts, heavy templates, excessive plugins and pages that transfer more data than they need to.

does reducing website carbon also improve performance?

Often, yes. Reducing unnecessary page weight, scripts and requests can also make pages faster and simpler to use, although sustainability and website performance are not exactly the same thing.

does green hosting matter?

Hosting is one part of a website's wider environmental impact. I can review the current hosting setup and help you assess lower-impact or renewable-energy hosting options where a change makes practical sense.

can you work with my developer or web agency?

Yes. I can identify the changes likely to make the biggest difference and work with developers, agencies or internal teams to implement them without compromising important website functionality.

how much does sustainable website consultancy cost?

The cost depends on the size and complexity of the website and whether you need an audit, implementation support or ongoing optimisation. I will review the requirements and agree the scope and cost before work begins.

about me