Issue #145 Loop WP

Hi, friend. 👋

Welcome to Issue #145 of Loop WP!

Last week, we dove into one of my favourite plugins for WooCommerce and some alternative solutions.

This week, we are changing things up as we discuss a more controversial topic, the environment and WordPress (although the discussion is not limited to WordPress).

Let’s go! 👇

Green Websites

This week’s topic is inspired by a tweet from Mike Hindle, which I’ve been thinking about for a while. 👇

I asked Mike what tool he used to determine what “green web hosting” is, and the answer was the Green Web Foundation.

🧠 This got me thinking about this article from Yoast SEO and this tweet from Jono Alderson from a couple of years back.

Do You Consider the Environment in WordPress?

My website is only one part of my business, which is (let's be honest) a crap website.

(I've had a single page for about five years.)

💚 So, it's easy for my site to be 78% cleaner than the average website. This number used to be 96%, so I’ll need to investigate why there was a significant drop.

I had never heard of the Green Web Foundation until Mike mentioned it. It’s a nice tool, but the test of my site wasn’t accurate. Although I use Cloudflare for DNS, the website is hosted by Rocket.net.

♻️ My preferred tool is the Website Carbon Calculator.

Going Deeper

🚨 Using Yoast SEO won't make your WordPress business carbon neutral, but small incremental (atomic) changes like this have a cumulative impact as you increase these micro changes.

But using Yoast as an example, do we try to use plugins in our websites that are concerned with the environment in the first instance?

Fathom Analytics, which I use on client websites (it has a WordPress plugin), was initially committed to helping the planet and moved to support Stripe’s climate initiative (I need to check if this is still the case).

Hosting

💡 Still, we need to look at more than just our websites.

What about hosting? I use a combination of Rocket.net and Kinsta, which leverages Google Cloud and is committed to sustainability.

External Tools

External tools we use, like Sitebulb (which I use for SEO), commit to the climate.

You and I could go on looking at all of our business practices and how we can be "net zero", friend, but that would take much more than one newsletter.

⚡️ Mike Hindle reminded me of Yoast's initial challenge years ago. He has caused me to revisit the impact of my business (in all its aspects, not just WordPress) on the environment and the legacy it is leaving behind.

I hope that you feel challenged, too.

Next Steps

GiveWP has an excellent article highlighting eleven causes you could partner with on April 22nd, 2025, for World Earth Day.

(The article hasn’t been updated in four years, but it’s a great place to start.)

I'm exploring joining Ecologi and reducing my business's impact on the climate.

Celebrating of the Greener WP Community

🤔I will leave you with this question from Matt Medeiros, "Can WordPress Save the Planet?"

🌍 You can check out Hannah’s website over at opcan.co.uk.

🌍 Mike Hindle’s website also provides more information on his move towards greener websites, and he has a dedicated Stripe Climate page.

Sponsorship Opportunities

🚨 The Google Doc contains all the details if you’re interested in sponsoring the Loop WP Newsletter.

Before You Go

⏭️ Next week, we’ll discuss another of my favourite plugins in my WordPress toolbelt.

See you next week! 😀

Weekly WordPress News, Tips & Black Friday Deals

This week's excellent and insightful WordPress News & Tips:

• GenerateBlock 2.0 - A new era for high-performance websites. (GeneratePress)

• Trademark Expansion - WordCamp Sponsors Face New Scrutiny as WordPress Foundation Expands Trademarks. (The Repository)

• Learn Bricks Builder - Version 2.0 of this amazing bricks resource is now live! Comprehensive Tutorials to Build WordPress Websites That Impress and Perform. (Paul Charlton)

• Report - WordPress in 2025. (WordPress)

• Alternative View - I Read the “Official” WordPress in 2025 Report – It’s Just a Piece of Enterprise PR. (WP Shout)

• First draft - Automated WordPress News Aggregator! (Brendan O’Connell)

• Call for Testing - Modernizing WooCommerce Emails. (WooCommerce)

• Congratulations! - Making a Career Change. (Brian Coords)

• AB 2426 - Selling digital products in/to California? What to know about law AB 2426. (WooCommerce)

• An Exciting Year Ahead - 2025: A Year of Refinement and Improvements (Personalize WP)

• Negative & Positive - WordPress Sentiment Defies X Drama, Remains Strong Across Platforms. (The Repository)

• Interview - Making a Career (Laurence Bahiirwa) From WordPress. (The WP Minute)

• Critical Reset - Designing the evolution of the Woo brand identity. (WooCommerce)

• Conversion Bridge - Derek Ashauer on Analytics Options and Privacy Challenges. (WP Tavern)

If you have a question about this email or WordPress, reply, and I will answer you as soon as possible.

👋 Until next time,