What are the environmental impacts of telecommuting?
May 24, 2022
In 2021, 31% of employees worked at least one day a week remotely. Last week we told you about our 5 favorite tools, the Agrid team practices telecommuting on a daily basis.
Telecommuting has grown significantly in recent years, particularly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced many companies to adopt this form of remote work. While telecommuting has many benefits for employees, it also has environmental impacts that should not be overlooked.
First of all, it should be noted that telecommuting reduces business travel and therefore fuel consumption. According to a study by the European Union, telecommuting reduced the number of kilometers traveled by workers each day by 300 million in 2020, which had a positive impact on greenhouse gas emissions. However, it should be noted that this positive effect depends on the distance from the usual workplace and the frequency of travel. In cases where telecommuting involves less frequent but longer trips (e.g., for meetings or business events), the environmental impact may be less favorable.
Telecommuting also has an impact on household energy consumption. Indeed, workers who telecommute tend to increase their electricity consumption, especially for heating and lighting their home workspace. According to a study conducted by the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management (ADEME), telecommuting can increase household electricity consumption by 20 to 30%. This increase can be mitigated by making sure to use energy-efficient electronic devices and by limiting unnecessary heating and lighting.
Finally, telecommuting can have an impact on the amount of waste produced by workers. Indeed, working from home can lead to an increase in the consumption of take-away food and beverages, thus generating more waste (especially plastic packaging). It is therefore important to make teleworkers aware of this issue and to teach them good sorting and waste management practices.
In conclusion, telework has undeniable advantages for employees, but its environmental impacts must be taken into account. It is therefore important to put in place strategies to minimize these impacts, while maintaining the benefits of telecommuting for workers.
Here are some avenues that could be explored:
- Encourage less frequent but longer business trips to reduce fuel consumption.
- Encourage the use of energy-efficient electronic devices and educate telecommuters about the energy savings they can achieve at home.
- Implement awareness campaigns to encourage teleworkers to sort their waste and adopt responsible consumption practices.
- Encourage companies to support teleworkers in designing their home workspace, for example by providing green office accessories or training on good environmental practices.
By taking these elements into account, it is possible to reconcile economic performance and respect for the environment within the framework of telework.
How to avoid the rebound effect?
To sustain the beneficial impact of telework on the environment, and to weaken the rebound effect, we have some ideas.
- Choose a wifi connection which is less energy consuming than 4G.
- During video conferences, you can leave your camera off.
- Equip your home with low energy lights
- Choose the least polluting videoconferencing systems (such as Google Meet)
- Turn off your computer after work
- Installing your office away from drafts will improve your well-being and reduce your heating needs.
Finally, we hope that with a wise and reasonable use of telework, we could get a rebound effect for the environment.