Our First Expo Experience
Last week at the North East Expo we launched our website carbon calculator, a tool we built in-house to help people quickly test the CO₂ emissions of their website. Visitors scanned a QR code or popped in a URL, and within seconds they were presented with their carbon score. We scored sites on a scale of plant types, Snake Plants for top performance, Peace Lilys for a solid effort, Bonsai Trees if things needed attention, and Cacti if your site was a bit prickly on the planet.
Wait, websites use carbon?
Even within the first few opening minutes we had a lot of “Wait, websites use carbon?” and “I had no idea digital stuff produced carbon.” Which is exactly the kind of reaction we’d anticipated.
The carbon calculator became a proper talking point. Not just a stop and scan, but something that sparked real interest in how digital can be done differently. Conversations covered everything from image optimisation to green hosting. People didn’t just want to know their score, they wanted to actually understand it.
Why build a carbon calculator?
The whole point of building the tool was to make something useful but not boring. Something that gets people thinking and starts the conversation about all things digitally sustainable without hitting them over the head with dramatic ‘sustainable’ buzzwords. Visitors really got stuck into the whole concept, sharing their scores on social media, even taking photos standing next to the carbon calculator.
Whilst everyone had fun and the content was kept light and breezy the calculator still used some pretty advanced software. It analysed key metrics that affect a website’s digital carbon output, like page size, speed, and the amount of energy it takes to load and serve your content.
It was important to us that we built something that gave useful advice, that showed people what their websites CO₂ omissions looked like for the planet.
Everything we took away from the Expo
We gave plenty away at the Expo, desktop gardens, notepads made from recyclable cork, even book marks that contain plantable pine seeds. But we also took things away ourselves, and we don’t just mean other stands’ swag, our first expo really was a valuable one for us.
We learned that people really do care about the impact their websites have, they just don’t always have the tools or even starting point to do something about it. Our website carbon calculator was able to give them the first nudge, and in return, they gave us a clear reminder that the need for sustainable digital solutions is very real.
Moving forward with our carbon calculator
If you missed us at the Expo, you can still give the carbon calculator a go at phonetic.eco. It’s quick, free, and built to be genuinely useful!
Big thanks to everyone who came by our stand, tested their site, asked questions, and got stuck in. We’re already working on what’s next for the calculator, because it’s clear this conversation is just getting started.
