3.6 Give third parties the same priority as first parties during assessment
Avoid using large third-party libraries and frameworks where possible, and where these must be used, self host, defer loading, allow the user to object, and provide alternatives.
Criteria
- Assess and reduce: Machine-testable
Assess third-party content and/or services (including plugins, widgets, feeds, maps, carousels, tracking scripts, and more) as early as possible in the ideation or creation process. Use as few as possible, preferring lighter, less complex solutions to reduce the overall environmental impact, including Scope 3 emissions.- 6 steps to reduce the carbon footprint of your website
- Are my third parties green?
- Building for sustainability with WordPress
- Built With
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 2.9 – Specifications (Off-The-Shelf Components)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 2.10 – Specifications (Third-Party Services)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 3.1 – Architecture (Impact Reduction)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 4.4 – UX and UI (Third-Party Enablement)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 6.7 – Front-End (Server Host)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 7.3 – Back-End (Background Processing)
- How large DOM sizes affect interactivity
- How To Reduce The Impact Of Third-Party Code
- How tracking pixels work
- Scope 3 Emissions in Your Digital Supply Chain
- Should I Use A Carousel
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 7 – Sustainable Energy
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 12 – Consumption & Production
- Third-party implementation: Machine-testable
Use click-to-load triggers based on an import on interaction pattern to prevent automatic loading of third-party content and/or services (see above). Offer suitable alternatives to third-party use, for example, a link to a contact form as an alternative to a chat widget.- Are my third parties green?
- Boring Web Development
- Built With
- Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS)
- Electricity Intensity of Internet Data Transmission
- Fast Load Times: Optimize your third-party resources
- Front-End Performance 2021: Defining The Environment
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 3.1 – Architecture (Impact Reduction)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 7.3 – Back-End (Background Processing)
- GreenIT – 4030 – Limiting the use of carousels
- It’s time to lazy-load offscreen iframes!
- Lighthouse: Lazy load third-party resources with facades
- Reduce the weight of a web page: which elements have the greatest impact?
- Reducing The Web’s Carbon Footprint: Optimizing Social Media Embeds
- Should I Use A Carousel
- Speed up your WordPress by loading 3rd party scripts on interaction
- The User Experience of Chatbots
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 7 – Sustainable Energy
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 12 – Consumption & Production
- Web Video Text Tracks Format
- Libraries and frameworks: Machine-testable
Avoid using large libraries and frameworks. Integrate these only when unable to use a more performant alternative to achieve the same goal.- Boring Web Development
- Fast Load Times: Optimize your third-party resources
- Front-End Performance 2021: Defining The Environment
- JavaScript performance
- Measuring energy consumption of cross-platform frameworks for mobile applications (PDF)
- MicroJS
- Plain Vanilla
- Reckoning
- The Cost of Javascript Frameworks
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 7 – Sustainable Energy
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 12 – Consumption & Production
- You don’t need JavaScript for that
- You Might Not Need
- You Might Not Need that Framework
- Self-hosting: Machine-testable
Prioritize self-hosted content over embedding content from third-party services. - Avoid dependencies: Machine-testable
Host icons and widgets on your own server, rather than relying on third-party services to host and deliver these or embed third-party functionality within your project.- Boring Web Development
- Fast Load Times: Optimize your third-party resources
- Front-End Performance 2021: Defining The Environment
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 2.9 – Specifications (Off-The-Shelf Components)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 2.10 – Specifications (Third-Party Services)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 4.4 – UX and UI (Third-Party Enablement)
- GreenIT – 019 – Replace official social networks share buttons
- Plain Vanilla
- Reckoning
- Simple Icons
- The Cost of Javascript Frameworks
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 7 – Sustainable Energy
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 12 – Consumption & Production
- Third-party preferences: Machine-testable
Respect user preferences around the use of third-party products and services, similar to the implementation of cookie consent modals. Provide mechanisms to disable or refuse non-first-party features alongside explanations of their purpose unless it is possible to show these third-party features are critical for functionality.- An empirical study on the performance and energy costs of ads and analytics in mobile web apps
- Are my third parties green?
- Building for sustainability with WordPress
- Built With
- Cookies, Pixels, and Tags
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 2.9 – Specifications (Off-The-Shelf Components)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 2.10 – Specifications (Third-Party Services)
- GPF – General Policy Framework (PDF) – 4.4 – UX and UI (Third-Party Enablement)
- GR491 – 5-3036 – Necessary Analytics
- GR491 – 6-3045 – Third-party Solutions
- How tracking pixels work
- Tracking pixel security
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 7 – Sustainable Energy
- United Nations SDGS – Goal 12 – Consumption & Production
- What could the sustainability initiative do for WordPress?
- What is a tracking pixel, and how does it work?
Benefits
- Environment
Replacing heavy tooling and third-party services with lightweight tooling reduces user bandwidth usage and compute impact. It does require learning a new way of doing things or reducing the visibility of impactful features until they are requested. It can significantly reduce a page’s overall ‘environmental impact, including the data you have no control over. This is especially relevant when calculating Scope 3 emissions. - Performance
Self-hosting fully self-contained services, features, and content are more performant by design. They avoid additional server and rendering requests or other complications associated with third-party content. You can choose to only include the required features, further reducing overall bandwidth usage and associated emissions. - Privacy
Choosing not to embed and automatically load third-party content may be perceived as a privacy benefit by privacy-conscious users, because this reduces opportunities for their user data to be exploited.
GRI
- Materials: High
- Energy: High
- Water: High
- Emissions: High