Darmstadt 98 German (sustainability) champion - Bayern in 6th place
What many people don't know: Websites leave a CO₂ footprint. Just like physical activities, surfing the Internet causes emissions - and to a considerable extent. A study has now examined the websites of all Bundesliga clubs.
A recent study by acb.studio found that the home pages of most Bundesliga clubs are particularly "dirty" in terms of CO₂ emissions. Of the 18 Bundesliga clubs examined, only the website of Darmstadt 98 is slightly above the average of all websites tested worldwide. A comparison makes it clear: 337 times around the world - that's how far an electric car could travel with the energy needed to call up all the Bundesliga home pages.
After all, 61 percent of Bundesliga clubs already use sustainable hosting. This indicates a growing recognition of the issue of sustainability in soccer. Despite this positive trend, however, the survey shows that much remains to be done in terms of the digital CO₂ footprint. The exact results were recorded in a table that was drawn up in analogy to the Bundesliga's points table. This table not only shows the CO₂ emissions of each website, but also how they compare to the global average, clearly highlighting the magnitude of the problem.
"In the midst of the climate crisis, the topic of sustainability is increasingly becoming the focus of our society," said David Pinzauti, Strategist at acb.studio and responsible for the study. "Football legs, as the flagship of German sports, should be pioneers and role models in this regard - also in terms of digital sustainability."
Sustainable web design and targeted optimization options can make websites more environmentally friendly. These include techniques such as image compression, minimization of "render blocking", and the use of "responsive images". These measures allow websites to consume less data and thus energy, which reduces CO₂ emissions. Click here for the study.
