Why small and medium businesses can't ignore sustainability in 2025!

Why SMBs Can’t Ignore Sustainability in 2025: ESG, Eco-Friendly Websites, and more!

Sustainability is a growing business need in 2025. Because if we think of it, every resource that we use comes with a cost: office spaces are expensive; electricity is expensive; even something as simple as word-processing software could set us back by a few bucks.

But this isn’t just about finances, but resources. With modern businesses and technology depleting our planet’s resources, soon sustainability could become a huge necessity.

Should we all shift to paperless offices? Go completely remote?

To get an actual solution to this need for sustainability, we must look at business from all sides.

Are digital businesses actually sustainable?

Our journey as a sustainable web development agency started three years ago, because of this very fact:

Digital transformation, which is meant to solve traditional sustainability challenges, has created its own environmental crisis. Paperless offices might be leaving a larger carbon footprint than we realize.

For a single page request, these statistics might look okay. Now imagine 4.6 billion people, sending endless requests, jumping form page to page, everyday?

But in response to all these challenges, we’re witnessing a fundamental shift from the regular Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to larger, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices.

What is ESG?

ESG is a framework that evaluates a company’s Environmental Impact, Social Responsibility, and Governance Frameworks. These practices ensure organizations stay sustainable and ethical.

A common misconception is that ESG is limited to just looking good in annual reports. However, major economic zones are implementing ESG as strict regulations.

This might sound overwhelming, or even irrelevant to Small and Medium Businesses. But here’s the truth: smaller companies are actually better positioned to adapt and thrive amidst these new regulations.

How can SMBs become more sustainable?

The most ideal place to start is your digital presence. Today’s technological innovations have made sustainability easier and more accessible.

Web Standards like HTTP/3 improve efficiency

Advanced compression technologies reduce data transfer needs

Smart CDN distribution and edge computing are reducing energy needs while maintaining performance.

But it could be challenging, because your business relies on multiple tools; your day-to-day could involve an entire tech stack, that includes email, marketing automation tools, AI, and of course, your website. Each of these elements could contribute to your digital carbon footprint.

But you don’t have to transform everything at once. You can start with your website.

But why?

It’s the most visible digital asset, and pretty straightforward to optimize. Optimizing your website also offers concrete, measurable improvements that could benefit your business too!

How to reduce your website’s digital carbon footprint?

It’s the most visible digital asset, and pretty straightforward to optimize. Optimizing your website also offers concrete, measurable improvements that could benefit your business too!

As a sustainable web development agency, we suggest many of our clients to check their environmental impact themselves, with the Website Carbon Calculator. This gives them the motivation and idea of where they stand and how much change should they incorporate.

What are the advantages of sustainable web design?

The advantages of embracing sustainable web design extend far beyond environmental impact. Sustainable websites are inherently more efficient, leading to faster load times and better user experience. Businesses typically see 30-40% reductions in hosting costs after implementing sustainable design practices. Search engines are increasingly favoring efficient and eco-friendly websites, making sustainability good for your SEO too.

Major tech players including Google are pushing for sustainability and it shows: their Core Web Vitals has introduced new sustainability and efficiency metrics in their ranking algorithms. We also see web browsers like Firefox include power usage monitors and carbon footprint indicators for users to measure how efficient your websites are.

But, perhaps, the most compelling reason to act now is this: if you adopt sustainability today, you will become well-positioned in a market where environmental consciousness is imperative. As these regulations and awareness grow, sustainable digital practices will become fundamental, just as mobile responsiveness is today.