Is Working From Home Better For The Environment – The Surprising Truth

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One of the common responses to the question “what are the benefits of working at home” is that it helps the environment. Fewer people driving their cars, fewer people using public transport and whole buildings not being needed to be powered. So, does working from home really help the environment?

Working from home is better for the environment. Businesses that have changed their models to work from home full time have a positive impact on the environment in the form of less paper usage, fewer harmful emissions, cleaner air, and reduction of plastic pollution.

Interested to keep reading what these positive impacts mean? Keep reading to find out more, also if you interested in finding out more about how much pollution  has been saved by working from home check out my 10 reasons working from home is reducing pollution post here. 

 (It’s worth mentioning that this post has a lot of information and so if you’re curious about the best equipment needed to work remotely simply go to my resource page here.)

Less Paper Waste

Ok well, not that dramatic but with the global pandemic there has been a huge change to how we conduct our business on a day-to-day basis. 

Meetings are held remotely, Minutes and documents are recorded and kept electronically. 

Also, a huge reduction in communicating by post e.g., invoices or notices. One Global IT Company employer mentioned invoices were split 40% by Post and 60% by email since the pandemic that has shifted 98% Electronically and 2% by Post!

Another example of paper usage being reduced is the legal court’s system, once upon a time, each Lawyer would receive 100s upon 100s of pages for a case. Now that hearings are being partly done online, disclosure or other documents are provided electronically allowing for the huge saving of trees.

You might be thinking why this is so important to know, well let me give you some figures to help understand

Paper Consumption in the US based on a study done by the University of Southern Indiana:

• America uses 85 Million tons of paper per year, which is an average of 680 pounds (weight) per American
• The average American uses 7 trees a year in paper and other products made from wood

Below is a chart depicting the % of what is recycled in America annually.

Let me help you understand the importance of 1 tree:

• The average fully grown tree produces the oxygen needed for 2 people  
• The average full-grown tree will absorb as much as 48 pounds of carbon pollution every year.

Often a statement made is what difference can I make on my own?

Well, if the average individual uses 680 pounds of paper per year and in the first year, they try to reduce their paper usage by half so that’s 340 pounds. It would take 6 people to reduce their paper usage by 50% to save 2040 pounds per year.

Why is that figure of 2040 pounds important? Well because if you recycle a ton of paper (2000 pounds) it can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 7000 gallons of water, landfill space, and energy. 

This means you save 60 pounds less on air pollution.

Now note the key point those figures are for RECYCLING paper, imagine the benefits if you never required to use the paper in the first place!

6 people could save countless trees, 6 people in a population of 382 Million. 

Are we that cynical that we stopped believing others around the world are trying to take that same step to help improve the environment?

Shocked at the impact we are having on the environment? Well keep reading to learn more

Working from home reduces air pollution

Air Pollution, the picture of grey clouds and murky streets which are often associated with Large cities throughout the developed world. One of the benefits of the Lockdown has been a huge reduction in pollution.

A beautiful example of this is the city of Venice which as a byproduct of Mass tourism suffered in particular with water pollution. Since lockdown, the waters have become cleaner and locals have even commented on seeing fish return to parts of the canal.

In a study conducted by U.K. Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Carbon dioxide (C02) emissions in London have reduced by almost 60%. Nitrogen Dioxide which if breathed in high concentration can affect the human respiratory system also reduced by 40%.

So simply put, stay at home and we save the environment? Well let’s find out below:

Does working remotely really make a huge impact on our environment?

The answer is, well it’s not that clear. If you just looked at the commute and said that saves positively on pollution and energy yes – but the overall impact on the environment might not be as high as initially thought.

There have been arguments that the increase in usage of electricity at home for example negates the benefits of remote working. Also, others have argued that we need to be clear on what we define as “remote workers”. If someone works from home once a week that really doesn’t help the environment as much.

However, I want to focus on a study completed by Iopscience which focused on 39 studies to review the impact of teleworking on the environment.

The table below shows the breakdown of the energy, climate, and environmental impacts of working remotely:

Out of the 39 studies it found that the majority (26 studies) had a positive impact on the environment, interestingly in 5 cases, it was found that it was more harmful to the environment.

Iopscience’s study further shows that there is a real opportunity globally to help better the environment and do not throw away this golden chance.

Conclusion

One thing to be clear about is we do not know in exact numbers what impact remote working this last year has had on the environment. A caveat mentioned in the Iopscience study is that a lot of the figures used are approximations such as e.g. the average output of a car or the impact one person’s train journey has, or even the energy used at home.

Also, we have to be clear on what we include in those studies and what we mean by remote working for example:

If a business operates on a remote working rota e.g. team of 4 where they alternate 2 or 3 times a week coming into the office – will that really help the environment significantly? Seeing as the building will be on 24/7 as usual instead of business who work remotely 100% allowing them to get rid of the whole office or only use it sparingly.

The way we work has changed and I believe that change is here to stay for most sectors. As a recruiter said to me in the last couple of months, some form of remote working will now be expected by candidates to be included as part of their benefits package.

Exciting times and one hopefully that will change for the better!

A lot of people reading my blog want to know what products I recommend for a home office/remote working. You can find out my recommendations here and learn how I make money whilst working remotely on the side here.