this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023
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People who work from home all the time ‘cut emissions by 54%’ against those in office::Study in US shows one day a week of remote working cuts emissions by just 2% but two or four days lowers them by up to 29%

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[–] [email protected] 110 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Commuting by car is really, really expensive -- to the worker (in fuel, time, and stress), to the polity (in road maintenance, traffic collisions, etc.), and to the environment as well.

Most of the costs are borne directly by the worker without compensation. Although a worker is required to commute to work, commute time is not considered part of an hourly worker's working hours, nor is it considered a tax-deductible business travel expense.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Now I pay for the electricity and my home office space and it is still significantly cheaper than just what I used to pay in gas. Screw going back in to the office.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you receive a compensation from your employer for electricity/internet/phone plan ? Then it is way cheaper !

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

No, they don’t compensate me at all for it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

The fraction of my electric and internet bill consumed by remote work is negligible.

[–] [email protected] 55 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's a weird way to say 54% of the average American's emissions are caused by cars

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Not even just emissions. Also a major source of microplastics due to the tires. You know, the microplastics we inevitably end up eating. So thats a 2 for one really.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Shouldnt i be getting carbon tax credits for all this environent im saving

[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago

Ironically I think that would be a great approach - give tax breaks to businesses that have fully remote workers. It would save the environment, reduce traffic, reduce the cost of renting an apartment in downtown areas, bolster suburban and rural towns, and provide a higher quality of life to the middle class. The only way to get businesses onnoard willingly is by offering a monetary incentive.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago

Yup. Honestly if the world wasn't run for the money makers.

We could really engineer it to work for the betterment of the planet and us.

We could optimize our system so we don't waste so much and save ourselves money. Money which in turn is our life span.

If only

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)

gee who would have thought people that don't drive vehicles reduce emissions compared to people that drive vehicles

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

In other news: Scientists have discovered that people who don’t smoke, are not exposing their lungs to carcinogens anywhere near as much as those who do smoke. What a stunning revelation!

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago

But how can real estate companies make money off peasants if the peasants don't suffer needlessly?

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"You're welcome, Gen Z!"

-Permanent WFH GenX

P.S. Sorry you can't buy a house, but I'm not taking credit for that one.

[–] Muffi 17 points 1 year ago

It'll be "Work from your parents home" for Gen Z until the housing market collapse

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I think we can blame our parenta for that (at least I do).

My dad criticised me for years over not buying. When I did, he did not believe how much my mortgage repayments are. I would have paid of his house in less than 2 years!

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Theyh it is. Fuck back to office

Edit1: is that how you "spell" that? Doesn't look ot feel right to me

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

I'm doing my part!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


People who work remotely all the time produce less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of office workers, according to a new study.

Employees in the US who worked from home all the time were predicted to reduce their emissions by 54%, compared with workers in an office, the study found.

Wider emissions reducing benefits of working from home include the easing of vehicle congestion during rush hour in commuting areas, which is likely to improve fuel economy.

According to the study, this could result in longer commuting distances for hybrid workers and a greater carbon footprint due to the increased use of private vehicles.

The authors said: “While remote work shows potential in reducing carbon footprint, careful consideration of commuting patterns, building energy consumption, vehicle ownership, and non-commute-related travel is essential to fully realise its environmental benefits.”

While the findings do not apply to workers in many sectors – a bus driver, for example, cannot work from home – it provides pointers on how office-based employers can reduce company emissions.


The original article contains 591 words, the summary contains 171 words. Saved 71%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Or in some countries, alleviate the pressure on an overloaded public transport system. Which in turn cuts emissions.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I fucking love the Thinkpad design.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I love that they haven't really fucked with it too much. It's still the same basic design principles modernized over time. I was worried Lenovo would ruin the line but personally I feel they're still some of the best machines out there..

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Talked to a former coworker who goes into the office now a couple of times a week to sit in a shitty open office workspace to go on teams to ‘interact’ with his colleagues. It’s just fucking stupid. Also the company sells remote work enablement tools.