• Work From Home & Pass Gas
Posted by Kate Lister on April 19th, 2008
Research Shows Working From Home Could Reduce Greenhouse Gases by 107 Million Tons and Cut Foreign Oil Dependence by 80%
With Earth Day only a few days away (April 22), we decided to quantify how much telecommuting could save, and how much more it could do to save the planet. What we figured out is astounding — if the people who could work from home actually did, we could tell the Middle East to pound sand and take a big bite out of global warming as well.
Our conclusions are based on an analysis of data from EPA, DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Consumer Electronics Association, Matthews and Williams, The Reason Foundation, the Energy Administration, and Census Bureau data. All pretty credible sources, wouldn’t you agree?
Currently, only four percent of the U.S. workforce works from home, but research shows that about 40% have jobs that could be performed at home. Our analysis shows that if they did, these new teleworkers could annually save 625 million barrels of oil (roughly equivalent to 80% of our annual Gulf Oil imports), reduce greenhouse gases by 107 million metric tons of CO2, and save almost $43 billion at the pump. Each worker individually would save 26 work-days and over $800 — time and money now wasted commuting. That’s the equivalent of an extra 5 weeks vacation a year!
These findings are the result of our ongoing effort to quantify the costs and benefits of telecommuting for workers, employers, communities, and the nation. To find our how much gas your city, county or region could pass by encouraging people to work from home, or how much your existing telecommuters already save, check out our work-at-home research page. Incidentally, we’ll customize the data–free of charge, by the way–for reporters, government agencies, companies, and other organizations who want to know the potential impact more work-from-home could have on their carbon footprint. Requests can be submitted via email to info (at) undress4success (dot) com.
While telework offers individuals who can work from home a better work/life balance, it also offers companies real increases in productivity, higher worker satisfaction, and reduced costs. For the community, telecommuting offers reduced highway congestion, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and less dependence on foreign oil.
Have you hugged a telecommuter today? If not, don’t you think you should? Better yet, play hooky and pass the gas yourself!
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Bookmark Undress4Success.com for ongoing research about work-from-home jobs and home based business opportunities. The whole story will be available later this year in our forthcoming book Undress4Success: The Naked Truth About Working From Home (John Wiley & Sons, publisher).
April 22nd, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I really appreciate the informative statistics you have continued to post. I am convinced that telecommuting can solve many of our environmental/energy issues. I just don’t understand why the current presidential candidates don’t grasp this concept and make it part of their energy/environment platform. I have tried to elevate this issue to local and regional politicians here in California, as well as to local television stations, but still nobody is taking hold of this simple solution to our energy crisis. Telecommuting is based upon the simple foundation of taking cars off the road; and it is a technology that is available now. It doesn’t require any new inventions or new technology, it is not a dream for the future, but a solution for the problems at hand. Please continue posting your conclusions for all to see, and let us all know what we can do to push this agenda.
Gordon Bell
Pollock Pines, CA
April 28th, 2008 at 8:59 am
[...] the environment some, increased telecommuting could help even more. Consider these stats from one recent study: if the 40 percent of U.S. workers who could work from home did, the nation could cut oil [...]
May 9th, 2008 at 5:58 am
[...] recent study suggests that if the 40% of American workers who could telecommute, would telecommute, the impact on [...]