Melbourne-based web hosting business True Green Hosting has won the Environmental Business of the Year award at the 2024 National Australian Small Business Champion Awards for its commitment and dedication to the environment.
The awards, often called the Oscars of the Small Business World, attracted over 5000 entrants this year and were presented by channel nine newsreader Jayne Appozardi at The Star in Sydney.
“We’ve had many doubters along the way, but our passion and determination as a team to make a meaningful impact has led us to be Australia’s leader in green web hosting,” Ray Pastoors (pictured, at the awards ceremony), the founder of the Melbourne-based business, said.
True Green has made a mark for being the world’s first hosting provider to offer clients an annual carbon report card and offset program. In 2023, the hosting network’s average footprint was 332kg of C02, enough to power around 45,000 smartphones.
Research recently indicated that the World Wide Web contributes to two to three per cent of global carbon emissions and is forecasted to overtake the level of emissions being made by the international aviation sector. A primary driver of these emissions is national electricity grids, which rely heavily on fossil fuels to provide the energy and resources that go into keeping a website online.
“The further your website is hosted, the more energy it needs to use to load the content you provide to users,” Pastoors pointed out.
Given the current situation, True Green has partnered with Carbon Neutral to plant trees in Australia, with plans to plant over 10,000 in the next few years. To date, the partnership has already planted over 1,400 trees and offset over 42 tonnes of C02 with accredited projects.
In addition, the company also supports the Its Time Foundation Solar for Schools program that helps remote Pacific island schools ditch fossil fuel generators for cleaner energy as part of its one percent for the Planet commitment.
“The savings these schools receive from harnessing the sun’s power allows them also to purchase essential school supplies,” Pastoors said. “And the students learn and participate in plastic waste ocean cleanups to protect local marine wildlife.”
