Teraco partners with Grow-a-Tree to plant 5 000 trees

Lex van Wyk, managing director of Teraco, South Africa's first vendor neutral data environment, says it is important for the organisation to lighten its load on the environment. "This is just one of several initiatives we have aiming to reduce and off-set the company's carbon footprint."

Van Wyk says the company has made progress already by planting just over 500 trees since August 2012. Grow-a-Tree offers a starter pack that aims to teach South Africans to grow a tree from a seed. The idea, as outlined by the organisation, is to grow a tree from a seed and to plant it in a community area. The hope is that the person will visit the tree some years later and enjoy its shade.

Reducing power requirements

Teraco is founded on the concept of co-location which means that many companies share a data centre environment, substantially reducing the power requirements and capital expenditure required for the building of private or individual data centres. "The very core of our business reflects an energy efficient focus, and we've been working hard to further identify the impact we have on the environment, implementing processes and a structure to reduce our overall impact," says Van Wyk.

Van Wyk says that it's just the beginning of Teraco's environmental initiatives. "We have future plans to make use of free cooling systems when possible as well as bringing in ultrasonic humidifiers which are 90% more efficient than the conventional boiler humidification. We're totally committed to this process and we're excited to see how it translates into savings in the future."