Positive Environmental Benefits of Remote Work

Positive Environmental Benefits of Remote Work

COVID pandemic has changed our perspective on many things and has also transformed our perspective on work. The traditional rigid office setup got replaced with flexible work from home set up. Remote working offers various benefits to the employees, including improved work-life balance, better productivity, freedom, flexibility, and saving time. On the organization’s end, remote working boosts employee productivity, resulting in quality work, and also helps them save costs.

Remote work, also known as telecommuting has other benefits as well. It is the most effective sustainable solution that can solve many serious environmental issues. Remote working reduces carbon emission, air pollution, excessive use of fossil fuel, reduce plastic waste, and many more. Telecommuting is a win-win situation for employers and employees. But above all, it can bring a positive impact on the environment.

Now, let us look at the impact of remote working on the environment, which makes them the ideal work setup.

Lesser emission

Remote work offers various benefits. Compared to the traditional work which requires the employees to travel long distances, in remote work people need not commute. They can work in the comforts of their home and do not have to spend money on transportation. They will not be tired, which will reduce their downtime, and will be able to work more productively during the day. But other than this, no commuting has been shown to have a high positive impact on the environment.

If the majority of the employees work from home, the gas emissions will decrease drastically. As we know, greenhouse gases that cause global warming are a result of various human activities. When people are working from the office, they need to travel and use vehicles to reach their destination. The excessive burning of fossil fuel and gasoline by vehicles causes pollution. If people are working remotely, there will be a steep decrease in the use of buses, cars, vans, bikes, and minibusses for employees, thus, reducing the emission.

Decreased paper usage

When people are working remotely, most of the documents will be digitalized, reducing the usage of paper. Since most of the document is digitalized, there won’t be much need for papers. Thus remote work will boost the company to go paperless.

With the reduced paper consumption, there will be a steep decrease in the cutting of trees. It is noted that a single tree can absorb about 48 pounds of carbon dioxide in a year, thus reducing a huge amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Thus remote work can help decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions substantially.

Lower power consumption

To run an office, a massive amount of power is required. The equipment required in the operating process like computers, lights, fans, coolers, and heaters consumes a lot of energy. So, by shifting from a brick-and-mortar work setup, the amount of energy used can be cut down. Also, this will reduce the electricity bill. If you want to reduce the bills, comparing business electricity rates is also a good idea. There are various sites to compare electricity rates like the business energy comparison site, Business Energy UK which will help you to compare the rates and find the supplier who can give you the best deal.

Improved quality of air

We must all have got frustrated and annoyed at the massive traffic on a working day. The entire city will be flooded with vehicles that emit a lot of hazardous gases. With the remote work set up, the number of vehicles used will be decreased, resulting in reduced gas emissions. Reduction in the emission of these gases will improve the quality of air. Moreover, this has health benefits as well.

Air pollution causes various respiratory diseases like asthma, lung infection, TB, etc. The traffic on the highway itself is a major contributor to the increase of harmful nitrogen dioxide in the air. Thus, remote work means fewer vehicles, which means clean and healthy air.

Reduced plastic waste

During a typical working day, the majority of the people will be in a hurry and won’t be having enough time to cook food. They will grab a cup of coffee and get the packed food. When we work in an office set-up, we are more dependent on packed food. With the packed food comes plastic bottles, wrappers, plates, and other materials used for packing the food. Thus, when we are working from the office, we tend to use a lot of plastic items.

In a remote work setup, since employees are working from the comfort of their house, they have more time to cook, which reduces plastic waste significantly.

Eco-friendly meals to reduce emission

As we have discussed before, when people are going to a brick-and-mortar office, they tend to be busy and do not get time to care about their diet. They will mostly depend on fast food and won’t have time to bother about its impact. According to various reports, cattle farming and meat are contributors to more than 15% of greenhouse gases emitted. With remote working, they will have time to cook food and prepare more eco-friendly products. They will have time to make a conscious effort to reduce their meat consumption and go for more organic foods.

Inclination towards rural areas

One of the main reasons for people to shift to cities is the vast career options. With more and more people shifting towards cities; they will become more congested, resulting in poor quality of air and high pollution.

With remote working opportunities, people can live in any corner of the world and complete their work. This provides an opportunity for people to move with their families and live in peaceful suburbs. Thus, a small town will also have young and talented minds, thus improving chances for development.

With people shifting towards the small town, cities will have more space to breathe. With a reduced population, there will be less pollution and less waste. Thus, remote working provides an opportunity for decentralization of people, which will help in improving the quality of life.

During the past two years, we learned that most environmental issues are caused by human beings. Therefore, try to make a conscious effort to bring a positive impact on the planet.