From their newsletter:

Renewing Our Green Commitment

HostGator has just purchased additional certified REC’s (renewable energy credits) for our nearly 9,000 servers. This covers our entire server base, plus it gives us room to expand while more than offsetting the server’s carbon footprint. Instead of just offsetting our server’s emissions, we’ve committed to a 130% offset. Since we’re based in Texas, this investment goes towards Texas wind energy. As a HostGator customer, you should know that your web site is being powered by a 130% green server.

Here’s something we haven’t come across before.  They use “mini servers” which generate nearly no heat which means minimal cooling costs.  Perhaps their server rooms can even be cooled using ambient temperatures which would make Canvas Dreams one of the greenest hosts out there.

Live chat is available which is one of our must-have web host features.

To round off their environmental friendliness, you can check their eco-statistics.  At press time, they had offset over 125,000 lbs. of CO2.  We give Canvas Dreams a thumbs-up.  Check them out here. (remember: NO AFFILIATE LINKS!)

It’s time to establish Eco Host Reviews’ annual award categories.  As with everything we do here, this will be user-driven.  What’s your vote for award categories?

Greenest host?  Cheapest host?  Best value?  Best Customer Service?  You decide!  Leave your comment or contact us with your recommendation.  In one week, we will determine the categories and share them here.  Shortly after, we’ll evaluate all our green web hosts and dish out the awards!

Unfortunately, these claims are not valid from our perspective.  There is no proof of carbon neutrality such as a certificate.  Also, beyond using Dell servers for efficiency, they ask you to pay for making your site greener through addons.

Although they make a good effort, we can’t identify Super Green Hosting as a truly Green Web Hosting provider.  Still, if you’d like to check them out for yourself, you can do so here.

In their words:

SOLAR POWERED WEB HOSTING SYSTEMS
The datacentre we utilise for this option is in California east of Los Angeles. The data centre is powered by 120 solar panels which generate all the electricity. The Solar is owned and operated by the Datacentre to power California’s first and only solar-powered hosting company. (please be aware that there is a 10 hour time difference to the US so set-up times are longer and accounts can take up to 72 hours to activate).

Check them out here.

In their words:

First and foremost, our servers, and thusly your websites, are 100% Clean Wind Powered. Clean Wind is 100 percent new wind power. This carbon-free power comes from wind farms here in the Northwest and is endorsed by such groups as the
Renewable Northwest Project, Northwest Energy Coalition and Natural Resources Defense Council.

They go much further than wind energy and promote minimal commuting by employees, offset their employee’s carbon footprints and plant a tree on customers’ behalf.

Check them out here. (remember: NO AFFILIATE LINKS!!)

These web hosts are directly powered by clean energy.  You won’t find any offsets or carbon credits here!

• Solar Host (http://www.solarhost.co.uk/)
• Solar Web Host (http://www.solarwebhost.net) – could be a reseller?
• Affordable Internet Services Online (http://www.aiso.net/)
• Solar Energy Host (http://www.solarenergyhost.com/)
• Taproot Web Hosting (http://taproothosting.com/)

We will pay for 2 months of hosting for every pagerank the linking page has. For example, if you link to us from a page with PR 5, you will get 10 months of absolutely free web hosting at BlueServers.org. You won’t be roped into a contract and are free to cancel the account after the free period ends.

What do you think? Can you help out Eco Host Reviews by linking to us? If so, please drop us a line. We would also like to chat about special arrangements for those with highly trafficked sites, even if your pagerank isn’t that high.

In their words:

Working with a partner like NativeEnergy, Rackspace is diligently working toward the goal of being a greener company. We know it’s not something that can happen overnight, but by addressing the problem and educating our customers and employees, we are taking the first step toward a cleaner tomorrow.

Here is what we found:
From the inside: Rackspace works with employees to minimize their environmental impact.  They host a “Green Day” with local vendors as well.

For customers: Rackspace worked with NativeEnergy to develop a carbon footprint calculator for consumers to use.  See the calculator here.  Looking closely at the calculator, it looks more like a conversion tool for roping in new customers.

The nitty gritty: What about their nine datacenters?  Rackspace has made no claim that they have offset their non-renewable energy usage.  They redirect the attention to a few important but small changes like using compost on their lawns.  Seriously?  This is far from a “green web host”.

Although we’re not discounting the efforts they have made, Rackspace has fallen short of our recommendation.  We thought it would be only fair to ask for their input.  We contacted Rackspace through their online chat tool, here is the full, unedited conversation.

Welcome to Rackspace. We are connecting you to our next available operator.
My name is Justin V. and I am a Live assistant. How may I help you today?
you: Hi, I’m reading about Rackspaces “green” efforts…
you: I see lots of programs, but have you offset your energy usage with renewable energy certicates?
Justin V.: that’s a great question. let me get you the contact to our team that will be able to provide those details for you.
Justin V.: are you looking for a new hosting provider at this time or is this for a new project/
Justin V.: green initiative
you: I am reviewing Rackspace’s “green” program for a blog I run.
Justin V.: oh ok, the link provide has a lot of great info. about our Green Initiatives
you: Yea, I read the green initiative page. I found some great programs, but no mention of offsetting the massive amounts of energy your 9 datacenters use.

Justin V.: our PR contact will be able to follow up with this for you and better address that topic.
Justin V.: For all media inquiries, please contact Rachel Ferry at ….
Justin V.: (email removed)
you: Ok, thank you.

The verdict: Rackspace has been around a long time and probably offers quality hosting services. If you’re looking for a truly green web host, however, you best look somewhere else.

There is a slight difference between reselling and co-locating which is outlined in a future post.

So how do you check if your host is a reseller?  It can be tricky, but the first place to check is this website: http://www.whoishostingthis.com.  Enter your web hosts domain (ie: hostgator.com).  It will run what’s called a “reverse DNS lookup” which will indicate where the servers are actually located.  You’ll notice Hostgator is actually hosted by a company called “The Planet” which is a large-scale server leasing company.

Reseller hosting is not necessarily a bad thing.  If you are looking for basic hosting services, this is a perfectly fine source.  If you want core access, root access, and very specific requirements, you may want to look at companies who are not resellers.