Digital Sustainability Game

[franciscrot]

creating the second edition of the Digital Sustainability Game, and I'd love some community feedback. If we were to come up with 30 top tips/actions/tools for developers and engineers, what would they be? I'd like to include lots of signposts to tooling and other resources. Here's the draft - please feel free to comment! What have we left out? Is any of this advice bad advice? Etc.! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a5cvPyPw8PBM3UtVPZ0UqGnkpL1Ry0IDgTg02CsOjPw/edit?usp=sharing

[russelltrow]

Hey @franciscrot these are great, thank you for sharing. I've shared with our Green Software Patterns team.

Russ - GSF Ops Director

[GarciaInes]

Cool, how about this one for the 'everybody' https://www.agilealliance.org/digital-clean-up-this-is-how/
and the number 8 there could also point to Doughnut Economics which goes hand in hanbd with Planetary Boundaries?

[SalehBagheri]

@franciscrot
Here, I highlight three major gaps in the document that are especially important for C-level leadership to consider.

- Sustainability Isn’t Sustainable If It’s Just a Cost

Let’s be real: most companies exist to make money. If sustainability is seen only as an extra cost — more tools, more steps, more limits — it won’t get much traction. You can’t expect businesses to fully commit to something that hurts their bottom line. That’s why we need to redefine sustainability not just as a moral choice, but as a value-generating one. Whether it’s cost savings through efficiency, increased brand trust, access to new “green” markets, or stronger user loyalty — sustainability has to be positioned as a smart business move. If we don’t make it profitable, it won’t be scalable.
We need to actively look for ways, ideas, and models that make sustainability profitable — because that’s when it truly becomes sustainable.

- Over 70% of a Software Company’s Carbon Footprint Comes from Its Users

Most people assume that a software company’s emissions come from their servers, cloud usage, or development activities. But the reality is: the majority of emissions — often over 70% — come from end users running the software on their devices, across millions of hours and regions powered by dirty electricity. That means no matter how green the backend is, a company can’t reach true net-zero without addressing user-side emissions.
Decarbonizing the user experience should be a core strategy — not an afterthought. Whether it’s offering incentives for low-carbon usage, designing features that respond to grid intensity, or creating green-tier experiences, companies must start thinking of users not just as customers, but as climate partners.
To reach real net-zero, we need to build products that help users emit less — not just developers.

- Decarbonization: The Next Step for Green Software

Optimizing software to use less energy — through cleaner code, efficient algorithms, and lighter models — is a great first step. But optimization still depends on the energy being used, and most of that energy isn’t zero-carbon. No matter how efficient the software is, it still creates emissions if it runs on fossil-fueled electricity. That’s why we also need to focus on decarbonization — finding ways to shift software use toward renewable energy. This could mean encouraging users to engage during low-carbon hours, offering green modes, or even creating rewards for using clean electricity.
Unlike optimization, decarbonization directly targets emissions at the source — and it’s the only path to truly climate-friendly software.

[rutpal]

Making software that helps hardware last longer. It might come out by making code more eficient, needing not only less energy, but also less resources. Considering legacy devices. Not only focussing on decarbonization, but on sustainability as a broad.

[SalehBagheri]

It really depends on how you look at the big picture. From my point of view, we're in a climate emergency. And if we put the climate first, then cutting carbon has to come before optimizing anything else.
Check out this: https://climateclock.world/