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Ecohost is a workers' co-operative founded in 2008 to provide ethical web hosting on UK based servers. The eco hosting co-op was founded in 2008 by four directors to address  the lack of an affordable but ethical hosting service. Our ethical policies are evoloving as we grow but do have an emphasis on 4 main areas:

  • renewable energyWe think it is important to use electricity generated from 100% renewable sources and to support and encourage further development in the renewable energy sector. Our renewable electricity comes from Ecotricity - http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/
  • UK based data centre
  • open sourceOpen source doesn't just mean access to the source code. Open Source is about Free Software. Free as in 'freedom'. technology
  • co-operative company structure
  • ethical data retention policies

Our headquarters is located in a shared workspace co-op in Manchester called OpenSpace. Sharing our office space lowers the energy consumption of our business. In our daily working practices we constantly seek to minimise our environmental impact. For example, staff commute by bicycle or public transport and our office is nearly paperlessIn the UK, 120 billion pieces of paper are printed every year, which is the equivalent of a paper mountain more than 8,000 miles high. The manufacture of this paper emits 1.5 million tonnes of CO2, without taking into account the impact of the manufacture of printing equipment and ink and the energy consumed by printers..

When you choose to host your website with us you can be certain that our aim is to minimise the environmental impact of your web presence.

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Eco-Hosting
We provide hosting on servers that are 100% powered by wind, with bio-diesel generators as emergency back

Our eco-servers are UK-basedHaving websites hosted on UK-based servers has a number of clear advantages - data is regulated by UK law, servers are easily accessible if there is a problem, and connectivity is maintained in the event of US telecommunications issues., in a former military bunker located in Lincolnshire. This is the only UK data centre 100% powered by renewable energy. It is also naturally cool environment which means that the bunker's cooling systems operate much more efficiently than in a traditional datacentre. The servers themselves are IBM Blade Servers, which are 60% more efficient than standard web servers.

Open Source Server Platform
We also provide hosting on servers that are running 100% Open Source software.

Our Open Source server platform provides, amongst other advantages, greater security. Our Open Source servers are based in the Republic of IrelandHaving websites hosted on servers based in the Republic of Ireland has a number of clear advantages - data is regulated by ROI/EU law, servers are easily accessible if there is a problem (we have staff based in ROI), and connectivity is maintained in the event of US telecommunications issues.. Although our Open Source servers are powered by conventional electricity, because they are Ireland we can guarantee that they are NOT powered by nuclear energy.

Looking Forwards...
Our aim is that all our servers will be 100% renewable energy powered and 100% Open Source based.

See our various hosting packages