Lichfield Diocese seeks greener web presence

The Diocese of Lichfield is moving its website to a new green hosting facility as part of its ongoing commitment to care for the environment.

As of Sunday, the diocese’s website and online resource centre for churches will be hosted at a new environmentally friendly data centre in Slough run by Rackspace.

The diocese also plans to host the new website of the Lichfield Diocesan Board of Education on the green server when it launches next month.

The Rackspace data centre generates electricity, hot water and steam using wood chips, waste paper and fibre fuel, while the servers are cooled with the help of new techniques which bring outside air into the centre.

Director of communications for Lichfield Diocese, Gavin Drake, said the move was a step towards reducing the diocese’s environmental impact.

“Last year the Lichfield Diocesan Synod has asked the diocese to reduce its environmental impact and, in particular, to switch to electronic communication instead of paper wherever possible,” he said.

“Electronic communications has its own environmental impact so we’re delighted that our internet partners Pin Digital and Rackspace have been able to move our website to a new green hosting facility.

“We know that this won’t fully negate the impact of our web presence, but small steps such as this add up and can help make a big difference to our carbon footprint and the impact we make on the environment.”

He added: “It’s good to use recycled paper, and to recycle other consumables – but we’re going a step further and having a recycled website!”