Making the Right Choice Simpler: Our Path to a Greener Digital Supply Chain

In the digital world, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking our work is ‘weightless’. We don’t have factory chimneys or fleets of delivery trucks, so it feels natural to assume our environmental impact is negligible. But as a B Corp agency that thrives on transparency, we knew assuming wasn’t good enough.

We recently partnered with the sustainability experts at Profit Impact to undergo a rigorous carbon baselining project. This wasn't a vanity exercise or a marketing stunt, it was a deep dive into our operational data to understand our true impact. Our goal was to do the heavy lifting now so that when you choose to work with Yoyo, you can be certain you are choosing a partner that won’t complicate your own sustainability reporting.

As supply chain pressures mount, we want to be the most responsible and efficient choice in your roster, not by shouting about our credentials, but by being a ‘clean’ link in your value chain.

The Reality Check: What We Discovered

To get to the truth, we looked at every transaction in our accounts from 2024 and layered it with data from Sumday, a carbon accounting platform. We didn't just look at our office, we looked at our entire ecosystem.

The results were a bit of a wake-up call. Because we work in a shared office, we don't control our direct energy usage, therefore our Scope 1 and 2 emissions (direct energy) are actually zero. On paper, that looks great, but it’s not the whole story.

A staggering 82% of our carbon footprint comes from ‘Purchased Goods and Services’. This means our impact isn't about the coffee we drink, it’s about the software we subscribe to, the digital tools we use, and the partners we collaborate with.

The ‘Aha’ Moment: We were surprised to find that employee commuting and home working only accounted for 14% of our footprint. We initially expected this to be our biggest hurdle, but the data showed that our real challenge, and our biggest opportunity for impact, lies in the digital infrastructure we choose. It turns out that the energy used by our servers and software is far more significant than the miles we travel.

Why Our Footprint Matters to Your Website

We know that for most of our clients, the primary concern isn't how we get to work, it's how the digital products we build for you affect your carbon goals.

The internet is a massive energy consumer. Every line of code, every unoptimised image, and every server request carries a carbon cost. By cleaning up our internal operations and supply chain, we are sharpening the tools we use to build your digital presence. When we reduce our footprint, we are essentially making your Scope 3 emissions (your supply chain) smaller and easier to manage.

Our strategy includes a 56% absolute reduction target by 2050, with significant milestones as early as 2027. Here is how that translates into a more sustainable, efficient approach for your projects:

• Host with Intent: We are moving beyond general estimates. We are now using tools like the Google Cloud Carbon Footprint Tool to get actual data for your hosting environments. This means when you report on your digital impact, you’re using facts, not guesses.

• Leaner Technology: We are working closely with partners like Umbraco to transition clients to the latest, most efficient versions. These aren't just technical upgrades; they are designed to be more performant and less energy-intensive, which directly reduces the carbon cost of every visitor to your site.

• Supplier Rigour: We aren't just asking our partners for ‘sustainability statements’. We are helping our core contractors measure their own footprints. This ensures the entire production line of your website is as green as possible before it even reaches you.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Sustainable Web Design

We believe the next few years will see sustainable web design move from a nice-to-have feature to a fundamental requirement for any credible business. At Yoyo, we are already building the capacity to make this transition easier for our partners.

It is important to understand that a carbon-intensive website isn't just bad for the planet, it’s bad for your users. A site that requires massive amounts of data to load is a site that frustrates customers on slow connections and drains their battery life.

By focusing on Digital Infrastructure Optimisation, this is a win-win:

1. Lower Carbon: Less data transferred means less energy used
2. Better UX: Faster load speeds and smoother performance
3. Improved SEO: Search engines increasingly reward fast, efficient, and well-structured sites

Our Roadmap for 2026 and Beyond:

• Moving from Estimates to Activity: Instead of calculating carbon based on how much we spend, we are moving toward activity-based data. This gives us a much more granular view of where energy is being wasted in the code itself.

• Standardising Green Hosting: We are making it a standard part of our consultancy to advise on hosting regions. Choosing a data centre powered by 100% renewable energy is a simple switch that removes a significant chunk of carbon from your digital estate without any change to the user experience.

• Honest Accountability: We’ve committed to a 10% ceiling on carbon offsets. We believe in reducing our impact first, rather than just buying our way out of the problem. We want to show our clients that real change happens in the design and build phase, not in a carbon credit ledger at the end of the year.

Doing the Hard Work So You Don't Have To

Decarbonisation is complex. It requires hours of data digging, awkward conversations with suppliers, and a willingness to look at the ‘not-so-good’ bits of your business.

Our goal is to make this a little easier for our partners. By the time a project is complete, we want the carbon considerations to have been baked in from the first wireframe. 

We’re proud of the progress we’ve made with Profit Impact, but we’re also realistic about how much further we have to go. We don't have all the answers yet, but we have the data, and we have a plan.

Want to know the carbon weight of your current digital presence?

We’d love to share what we’ve learned. If you’re interested in auditing your own digital carbon footprint or want to discuss how we can make your next project more efficient and sustainable, please get in touch. Let’s build something impactful, for all the right reasons.