April 24, 2010

Employees, don't wait for the next Earth Day to green your job

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Maybe you went to a recycling event, planted some trees, or otherwise did your part to honor the planet during the past week's green festivities. Good for you.

[Photo courtesy of NASA]

But amid all the fanfare around Earth Day's 40th anniversary, there was little talk of how much telecommuting could reduce the carbon footprint of the planet's squillions of employees. Since it would be a shame to wait until next April to lay a few startling statistics on you, allow me to do it now.

According to Kate Lister of the Telework Research Network, if every U.S. worker who had a "telecommuting-compatible job" worked from home on the same day of the year (perhaps next Earth Day?), the collective effect would eliminate 423,000 tons of greenhouse gases. Essentially this would have the same effect as taking 77,000 cars off the road for a year.

In addition, says Lister, who's co-author of author of Undress for Success: The Naked Truth About Making Money at Home, a national day of telecommuting would save the country:

• 900 million miles driven to work
• 2.3 million barrels of oil (value: $185 million)
• 45 million gallons of gas (value: $188 million in consumer savings)
• 28 million kilowatt-hours in net electricity (enough to power 2,600 homes for a year)
• 775 people from getting injured or killed in traffic accidents

According to Lister, "less than 2 percent of U.S. employees work from home the majority of the time (not including the self-employed), but 40 percent could." What's more, Lister says, if those who could work from home did so just half the workweek, the nation would save more than half a trillion dollars annually.

There's plenty more statistics where those came from. Six months ago, I used Lister's research to write a post about how much telecommuting could trim from your personal budget. (If you'd like to dive further into such statistics yourself, try this Telework Savings Calculator.)

Posts like this always elicit questions about how to join the telecommuting party. Unfortunately some jobs don't lend themselves well to working offsite (think teaching elementary school, working as an ER doctor, or ringing up groceries). But for those with jobs that don't require face-to-face interaction with colleagues and customers all day long, here are a few related posts to get you started:

• Asking to telecommute in a bad economy
• More ammo for employees hoping to telecommute
• Amid scams, some do find work at home
• How to avoid work at home scams

Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide." E-mail Michelle at mgoodman@nwjobs.com

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2 Comments

aullman on April 26, 2010 3:17 PM | Reply

You don't have to change jobs to make a positive impact on the environment. All you have to do is find a way to cut back on the miles you drive every day. Telecommuting is one option. If you don't have adequate facilities at home you can try working from a remote office center near your home. Think of all the time, money and CO2 you will save if you spend 2 less hours in your car every day.

legitimate telecommuting jobs on January 26, 2011 3:17 AM | Reply

Great point about not needing a complete office setup at home in order to reduce mileage. If you don't have adequate facilities at home you can try working from a ROC nearby. If the 50 million people in the U.S. who hold teleworkable jobs worked from home just 50% of the time (roughly the national average for those who already do):

- The country would save 453 million barrels of oil (57% of Gulf oil imports) valued at over $19 billion per year.

- The environment would be saved from 84 million tons or greenhouse gases a year--the equivalent of taking 15 million cars off the road.

- 150,000 people/year would be saved from traffic-related injury or death.

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