Silvan Earth: A first draft
Listen up entrepreneurs, developers, designers, product-owners — creators with a heart for our planet. 🌎
Let’s be honest: Our planet is pretty much f*cked. And I don’t want to just sit and wait. Wait for 2030, for politics or for multinationals to finally take action. But as small companies and individuals, what can we do?
We can take a look at our own circle of influence: The things we create. Apps, websites, software. Often we run them on top of servers, and every server has an environmental impact. Sure, it’s probably nothing compared to oil companies, but still: If we can do better in our own area, we should. And if we prove we can, others will follow.
Meet Silvan Earth: A nonprofit I’m building to make climate-friendly software a no-brainer. Think of it as a (noncritical) part of your infrastructure that helps you reduce emissions and automatically compensate for what’s left.
I’m looking for five companies to join a pilot program. Interested? Here’s what I’m thinking:
Emission tracking: Silvan monitors your server emissions. This only requires read-access to the necessary numbers. In fact: It won’t do anything if you give it more than it needs.
Automatic compensation: Emissions will be compensated automatically by Silvan, through reforestation and other verified projects.
Per-user insights: Track emissions per active user by sending a small, anonymous ping when a user interacts with your product (e.g., visits your homepage, signs in, or whatever you think is appropriate).
Alerts on changes: Get notified when emissions spike or drop, so you can understand why. Both up and down, this is the time to think. If you’ve reduced emissions, great! If they’ve increased, you can analyze what caused it and learn from it.
Price: $5, excluding CO₂ compensation.
Supported platforms: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, or a mix of those. I’m investigating other platforms, so let me know what you need.
What’s in it for you, or your client?
Do your part: Nobody can magically fix everything, but it feels good to take care of the part you’re responsible for. It’s something to be proud of, and great PR too.
Cost savings: Reducing CO₂ emissions usually comes from writing more efficient code. Optimized code lowers server costs: Good for the planet and great for your budget!
Want in? Contact me with a brief intro about you, your company, stack, and what matters most to you in all this.
Can’t wait, let’s make a difference together!