Happy Earth Day! Are you doing anything to celebrate?
I’m keeping it low-key here, but spending the day outside in the yard and garden.
One thing I don’t think I talk much about on the blog is my passion for sustainability and reducing our environmental impact. I studied sustainability (in design and agriculture) quite a bit in school.
Working from home environmental benefits:
Reducing our impact is one of the biggest challenges of our times, which is another reason I LOVE being a VA. Yep! I know it might seem like a weird connection at first, but if you work from home, you’ve got a green job.
According to a this FlexJobs article, here are a few of the green benefits of telecommuting:
- A decrease in greenhouse gas emissions of 54 million tons annually!
- Savings of 640 million barrels of oil per year.
- $20 million in gas savings per year.
Working from home also helps improve air quality (generally and in their personal environment), traffic congestion, and results in less paper use than an office. Yay!
If you’re not working from home yet, but are considering it, here’s just another wonderful reason to start planning your escape. Have you considered exploring freelance writing, affiliate marketing, or starting your own VA biz? Here are some resources I used to get started.
If, like me, you’re already working from home, let’s take a sec to be grateful to the clients and customers who make this possible for us! Seriously: Thankyouthankyouthankyou.
Here’s how we can make a bigger impact:
- Add more plants to your workspace.
- Use natural lighting and LED lights when you can.
- Use recycled paper for printed materials.
- Libraries are your friend!
- Dress in layers in the winter and lightly in the summer and keep the thermostat slightly cooler (or warmer in the summer) than you might be used to.
- Take a walk or a bike ride for a mid-day break rather than a drive.
Just a few ideas to get you going with a more environmentally-friendly life. Hope it gets you motivated!
How else can we go green when we work from home? I’d love to know in the comments.
I love this so much!!! I hope that more companies start allowing employees to work from home as there are so many wonderful benefits like the ones you mentioned!
Yay! Thank you, Meg. I agree, what a difference it would make with more companies moving towards telecommuting!
What a unique topic. I really love how you tied in the benefits of working from home with sustainability. I have never seen this done and I love it! I also address environmental issues on my blog and love to find like-minded writers spreading this critical message. Thank you!
Thank you, Sandi! So happy to connect with you too. I will definitely check out your blog. 🙂
I wish I could work remotely but as a dental hygienist I don’t think many people want to come to my house!
Ha! I don’t know, it might be more fun than going to the dentist’s office. 🙂
I love these ideas! Plants really do make my workspace feel so much better, and make me happier! I work from home, as you probably guessed, and think more people should too! Happy Earth Day from one remote worker to another!
Yay! Happy Earth Day and thanks for saying hi!
Great topic for Earth Day! Also could add, less energy/laundry detergent since I often wear my same “uniform” of stretchy pants and a tee, hah! 😉
Haha, totally for me too, Steph. 🙂
Lots of great value here. Cheers to an unstoppable earth-friendly post!
Thank you so much, Rhonda!
What an awesome spin on working from home! I had no idea where you were going to go with this but I love it!
Thanks so much, Gemma!
I love this! I don’t think about it much, but my commutes to my two jobs, both on opposite sides of the city, are anything but green. One more reason to work from home someday!
Thanks, Jennifer! Yep, one more reason. 🙂
True! We don’t usually think of these benefits when we are considering making the switch. I love that you call it “planning your escape” because that’s exactly how I think of it, although I’m not able to do my job from home at the moment. Maybe someday, and now I have more reasons to consider it!
Hi Irene, absolutely! Good luck with your great escape. 🙂
I love working from home. Although i haven’t thought about all these benefits, I guess i can be proud of myself for doing something that protect the earth.
Yes!! Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I never thought of working from home as a green job, even though it completely makes sense. I thought more of working from home as a job that gave me freedom, saved me time and money. I’m also a huge lover of the library. I picked up all my holds today which was about 10 or so. Imagine the cost if I bought ALL those books. Haha.
Hi Karen, totally agree about the many other benefits of working from home. Freedom was a big one for me as well.
Oh goodness, without the library, I’d be broke. Haha. Or I’d read a lot less, which would be sad, so I hear you on the library love!