Hey earth muffins! Before I moved to my current location, I was in Grand Rapids working remotely. While I really enjoy going back to the office now, there were definitely benefits to working from home. I’m sure many of you have also experienced remote work these past couple of years… So I wanted to share a post reflecting on the environmental impact of working from home. Looking back, I think the experience both helped and hurt my eco journey – let’s jump right into it!
How Working from Home Helped my Journey
The first thing that I loved about working from home was that it allowed me to reduce my car usage. I barely drove my car at all during the week because I didn’t have to go into the office every day. This was such a great benefit to the planet! As someone who doesn’t like to drive much, it was also a big pro to me.
Another thing I loved about remote work was that I was able to cook fresh meals for myself without having to pack lunches. While it is relatively easy to pack a zero waste lunch, being in my own kitchen allowed me to have better access to kitchenware and, better yet, my compost bin. I didn’t have to bother packing leftovers in special containers to bring to work. Really helpful to my eco journey!
Working from home also forced me to rely on my laptop and monitor – which helped lower my paper consumption even more! As an accountant, there are some instances where paper is necessary… But working at home pushed me to utilize programs like OneNote to reduce my paper usage even further. I hope tons of other people were pushed to do the same – just think about all the paper we could save going forward!
Lastly, I think remote working forced me to stop making excuses about progressing in my eco journey. I sometimes had the attitude of “at home I’m eco-friendly” but “I’m at work there isn’t anything I can do” about this bag of chips or straw, etc. Being at home for work really made me conscious that being sustainable is a value I remind myself of constantly… So there is no room for that kind of mindset! 😍
The Negative Environmental Impacts of Working from Home
There were also a few things I noticed that had a negative environmental impact of working from home. First, I had to increase my energy consumption. I’d normally turn down the heat, turn off all the lights, and use no water all day. But, that was no longer the case with remote work. Instead of having a bunch of people sharing the same lights/electricity at the office, we were now all using energy in our own homes. Think about how much more energy that is! On top of that, many office buildings still turned on the lights at night even though there was no one even there. Not great for Mother Earth.
I also felt like I was getting a lot of extra things in the mail when working from home. My laptop had to be shipped to me when I started the job. The company I worked for would also send packages of “goodies” (aka plastic things I didn’t want or need) to help boost morale with everyone not under one roof. While a nice thought, I wasn’t a fan of increasing emissions from shipping.
Final Thoughts on Working from Home
Overall, I enjoyed my time working from home. Especially during accounting busy season, it was definitely nice to be in my own apartment instead of at the office or in a hotel! The environmental impacts of working from home had pros and cons: less car emissions and access to better food but also more excess energy and shipping use. I’d also say that working from home makes it more difficult to set those crucial work-life boundaries… But that is a post for another day. 😊 Are you still working from home? Comment below the sustainable benefits you have found from remote work!
Love,
Jenna ♥
Such an interesting post! I am working from home and there are definitely some advantages, but as you mentioned, some environmental disadvantages to consider as well <3