We made a Browser Extension!

Good morning and happy Tuesday! 

One of the things we’re trying to do this year is provide more useful, actionable information. We’re excited to start the year with a strong step in that direction by introducing our first browser extension, the Green Web Checker.

What is the Green Web Checker?

The Green Web Checker is a simple extension available in the Chrome Web Store that is designed to let you know at a glance if a website is hosted by a company running its servers with renewable energy. The extension has a simple green check (on brand) or a red “x” based on the hosting. If the site is using a CDN, the response is returned for the CDN hosting.

All the awesomeness behind this extension comes from the Green Web Foundation, which provides an API for their Green Web Dataset. This listing, also available for review online, tracks known hosting companies to determine their energy sources and does the work of validation. They also provide other open source resources for tracking energy usage by the internet. I encourage you to learn more and support them, if you’re able!

Why did we create this?

Those of us trying to make ethical and environmentally-friendly business choices often have a blind spot when it comes to our technology. It can be incredibly had to know if the companies you utilize are meeting your standards without doing extensive research. And let me be clear – this extension does not replace a lot of research. 

But this is one way to very quickly get to see a company’s commitment to their green energy goals. Not every company is paying attention to how their content and tools are being hosted, but more and more, they should be. This tool can help you see if the companies you work with and the technologies you use everyday are paying attention. And, if they’re not, I encourage you to reach out and gently make them aware that they could improve. 

What’s Next?

Our first iteration of this extension is extremely basic but we already have an update pending Google’s approval. The next version will not display the status of a page by default, but can check the status of hosting when triggered. This improvement is more inline with our ethos of energy savings by not auto-checking every page. That said, the option to turn on auto-checking will remain for heavy users.

Please note that if you’re not a Chrome user, the extension will still work for Edge, Opera, Brave, Arc, and other Chromium-based browsers. And we’ll be working on a version for non-Chromium browsers Firefox and Safari shortly.

Want to Support Our Work?

Please test out the extension and let us know what you think by sending feedback or leaving a review in the Chrome Web Store. And we always appreciate a donation to our Boost Grants!