Sustainable Web Browsing: A Browser Extension for Energy-Efficient Web Surfing
Sustainable Web Browsing is a browser extension designed to help users browse the web more sustainably. With the ever-increasing use of the internet, energy consumption from web pages and user devices has become a concern. This extension aims to address this issue by filtering web pages before they load, stripping them of unnecessary elements and reducing energy consumption.
Developers often prioritize other aspects of web page design, such as loading speed and accessibility, rather than energy efficiency. As a result, web pages tend to be inefficiently built and contain unnecessary elements like images that are not relevant to the user. Sustainable Web Browsing tackles this problem by removing borders, shadows, animations, transitions, backgrounds, and other decorations from web pages. It also defaults fonts to Arial and overlays a grayscale filter on the site. Images are replaced with empty frames, further reducing energy consumption.
The extension achieves this by utilizing CSS insertion, which allows for the modification of page styles before they load without affecting functionality. This method is not page-specific, making the extension compatible with any web page. Additionally, the extension removes media elements, such as images, videos, and audio, from the page using JavaScript on the Document Object Model (DOM).
Sustainable Web Browsing is a free browser extension available for Chrome users. By using this extension, users can contribute to a more energy-efficient web browsing experience, reducing their carbon footprint while enjoying a simplified and streamlined web experience.
