Combating subconscious greenwashing in digital sustainability: Part 1

In the world of sustainable marketing, we often focus on physical supply chains, plastic-free packaging, and carbon-neutral shipping. But an invisible culprit is lurking in our browsers: the digital carbon footprint.

I recently sat down with Ashley John, founder of the digital sustainability and accessibility consultancy Oynk, and the mastermind behind EcoPigs, to discuss why current digital sustainability metrics are failing us and how "subconscious greenwashing" is skewing our understanding of a "green" website.

From Creative Agency to Carbon Calculators

Ashley’s journey didn’t start with a mission to save the planet; it started with a mission to build better websites. In August 2024, Oynk launched as an agency focused on optimised design.

"Low carbon was actually a byproduct of optimisation," Ashley explains. "No one wants a clunky website. Naturally, everything we built was optimised for performance, speed, and emissions."

As he delved deeper into the sector, he noticed a gap. Popular tools like Website Carbon or EcoGrader provided a snapshot of a homepage’s emissions, but they lacked depth. They didn't account for the user's entire journey or the "dirtiness" of the energy grid at any given moment.

"I wanted something I could give to my clients so they could see their real impact," Ashley says. This spark led to the birth of EcoPigs.

The Problem with "The Homepage Grade"

Most businesses brag about an "A" rating from a carbon calculator, but Ashley warns that these grades can be dangerously misleading.

• The Single-Page Trap: Most tools only measure the homepage. "If you click through to other pages, those have emissions too," Ashley notes. EcoPigs V2 evolved into a dashboard that monitors the entire site (including cookies and policies), using live visitor tracking.

• The "Dirty" Evolution: A website isn't static. A developer might hand over a "Green A" site, but then the client adds a high-res video or unoptimized blog images. Suddenly, that "A" is a "C," and without constant monitoring, the owner is unknowingly claiming a sustainability status they no longer hold.

"Agreement isn't accuracy; it's just a bunch of people saying 'that will do'."

Identifying "Subconscious Greenwashing"

Perhaps the most provocative part of our conversation centred on what Ashley calls subconscious greenwashing. This happens when companies believe they are being sustainable based on flawed data models.

1. The Grid Discrepancy

Most industry-standard tools use a global average for energy grid intensity (around 494g CO2e/kWh). Ashley argues that tools can reduce the data centre portion of emissions based on a green hosting factor.

"In EcoPigs, we use live data from 28 different countries' grids that updates every 15 minutes," he says. This reveals the truth about the hosting location. For example:

• Sweden: Relies heavily on hydro energy (very clean).
• Poland: Relies heavily on coal (very dirty).

If both companies claim "green hosting," standard tools treat them as equals. However, if the Polish company is simply buying Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to "offset" their coal-powered data centre, Ashley argues the planet doesn't care. "The grid doesn't understand a certificate. The energy powering your website is still dirty.

2. The Weight of Objects

Another flaw in current logic is treating all data as equal. Current tools see a 2MB image and 2MB of JavaScript as having the same carbon footprint.

"It doesn't work that way," Ashley explains. "An image is a static download; it requires almost no compute. JavaScript requires action and processing, which uses more energy over a longer period." EcoPigs differentiates between these, measuring actual compute and energy usage rather than just file size.

Why Real-Time Monitoring Matters

The ultimate goal of EcoPigs isn't just to give a grade, but to provide a live look "under the bonnet." By using a lightweight tracking method to map real-time visitor journeys and fluctuating grid data, businesses can see their emissions rise and fall throughout the day.

As Ashley puts it, we have evolved beyond the stage of "estimated guesses." To truly combat digital greenwashing, we have to stop settling for "good enough" metrics and start looking at the hard, real-time science of how the internet actually breathes.