Working from home is no longer an occasional work schedule; it’s a way of life for many people. Remote work offers tons of perks, including less time spent commuting and a better work-life balance. 

According to a Gartner HR Survey, 88% of companies worldwide urged or required their employees to work from home due to the pandemic. Working from home benefits you as an employee, but it also has a positive environmental impact. 

Learn about the eco-friendly advantages of working remotely and see how you can reduce your carbon footprint as a remote employee. 

Helps Reduce Gas Emissions

Getting rid of millions of workers’ daily commutes reduces greenhouse gas emissions. As people stayed at home, carbon dioxide emissions from transportation fell 15% in 2020.

Remote working saves time, energy, and money spent getting to the workplace. Remote workers create a smaller carbon footprint simply by working from home. Working just one or two days a week at home reduces the number of automobiles on the road.

Reduces Power Consumption in Corporate Facilities

The energy consumption in offices is almost twice as high as residential homes. An office requires an optimal heating and cooling system and many computer and data servers that must be accessible 24/7. 

The industry and employees’ occupation influences the amount of energy they consume daily. According to an International Energy Agency (IEA) study, remote work results in net energy savings for residential households. Despite more time spent at home with the lights on, remote workers are still using less energy overall than employees commuting to the office. 

Researchers at IEA found that if everyone in the world who can work from home worked part-time for one day a week, they would reduce oil consumption worldwide for road passenger transport by 1% each year. The overall effect on global CO2 emissions would be an annual reduction of 24 million tons (Mt), equal to the city of London’s yearly CO2 emissions. 

If anyone who can work from home did so more than once a week, the reduction in emissions would almost certainly be proportionately greater. 

Less Paper Usage 

Employees in the United States use a considerable quantity of physical office resources during each workday. When working remotely, employees can collaborate and exchange papers electronically, significantly reducing paper usage. Thanks to digital document management, consider how much paper, time, and space people save—no more printed copies, labels, or archiving. 

Less Use of Plastic

Plastic Oceans International, which has been raising awareness about plastic consumption since 2016, says the planet produces more than 380 million tons of plastic every year. Furthermore, half of this plastic is single-use, suggesting its discharge into landfills or oceans after a few minutes of usage. This has had a detrimental influence on the environment and will take decades or centuries to repair.

While reducing plastic use is not a direct consequence of remote work, it does give you the chance to lessen or eliminate your consumption. As a remote employee, you may take action by cutting out any plastic products that you would typically use in an office environment.

The usage of plastic lids causes unnecessary waste and contributes to the pollution of the environment. Water from the tap or through a filter minimizes the continuous consumption of single-use water bottles.

Making your lunch at home rather than packing one in a plastic bag or ordering takeout also limits the amount of waste you produce when operating remotely. Cooking lunch in your kitchen means you can shop differently at your local grocery store as well. Opt to buy in bulk to limit the amount of packaging you purchase, rather than buying individually wrapped items that are easy to grab and go. 

Improve Air Quality

Remote work eliminates the air pollution associated with vehicle emissions and fuel combustion due to reductions in daily commuting. It may not appear to have a big impact, but it improves the air quality. 

Last year, Global Action Plan and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity research encouraged organizations to embrace remote work as much as possible to maintain air pollution levels below acceptable limits even after governments lifted work restrictions. Reducing air pollution also results in various health benefits.

More Time for Environmentally Sustainable Hobbies 

Remote work offers employees many advantages, one of which is flexibility and a balance between your professional and personal life. The extra time allows you to make an even greater environmental impact.

Local, state, national, and international organizations provide numerous volunteer opportunities throughout the year. As a remote worker, you can make a difference in your backyard.

Some solutions for remote employees looking for methods to reduce pollution include: 

• Setting up a composting system in your yard
• Starting a garden in your yard or on your balcony 
• Cleaning trash in a park or body of water
• Volunteering with an environmental organization
• Planting trees
• Creating an urban or suburban community garden

Find Remote Work and Help the Environment

Working from home has many benefits for both you as an employee and the environment. The most significant advantage of the shift to remote work is reducing gas emissions and carbon footprint by not commuting to work every day. 

If you want to use remote work to help the environment, check out available jobs using our search function. JobsFuel’s job search engine is easy to use and enables users with specified employment objectives to find positions that match their needs. Simply input keywords related to your industry or desired career path and filter your search results based on where you live or where you want to work. 

With so many companies making the shift to remote work permanent, there are countless opportunities to reduce your environmental impact while enjoying work from the comfort of your own home. Once you find a job that interests you, use our valuable resources on drafting a cover letter, resume, and preparing for an interview to nail your application and land the remote job you’ve been searching for.