Telecommuting. Does It Benefit The Environment?

I have long wondered about working from home. The digital age has made it possible for virtually anyone to telecommute now. The internet, e-mails, virtual faxes, electronic drop boxes, instant messaging, and especially video teleconferencing have rendered our physical presence in offices less critical. In many ways, telecommuting may even be more beneficial for both employees and employers – convenience and flexibility, cost savings, time savings - just to mention a few.

I have been working from home for the last seven years and have on more than several occasions pondered what sort of impact (whether positively or negatively) I and millions of other telecommuters have on  the environment with our working situations. Is telecommuting good or bad for the environment? What are the pros and the cons? Does one exceed the other, or do they eventually weigh each other out? Let’s examine this issue today!

On the surface, telecommuting appears to be a good friend of the environment. If we Google “telecommuting” and “Green,” we get dozens of articles touting the benefits of working from home and how it helps save the environment. This is indeed undeniable—technology like video conferencing and instant messaging do such a good job of simulating face-to-face interactions that it has eliminated our need to travel to and from work and meetings that help cut down on air/rail travels. For those of you who are interested, this article from Environmental Leader details how a study sponsored by AT&T has underscored the positive impact video conferencing has on the environment.

In short, the article mentions that in the US alone, teleconferencing will save a company (with over $1 billion in annual revenues) over 900 business trips, or the equivalent of taking 434 passenger cars off the roads for a year. This other article from SFGate provides information about our daily commute to work. Basically, about half of Americans travel 20 miles to and from work, 22% 40 miles or more, and 10% 60 miles or more. According to a report by American Electronics Association quoted in the same article, if every American worker telecommutes even just 1.6 days a week, 1.35 billion gallons of gas will be saved, which will in turn prevent 26 billion pounds of carbon dioxide from getting released into the environment.

These are some interesting facts and statistics. The reality however is how much of these alleged “savings” are true savings? For example, the first article cited talks about reduced business trips – but a company cutting down on business trips won’t really matter much to the environment if the trains and aircrafts continue with their schedules. Also, if this article by Forbes actually goes so far as to say that telecommuting is bad for the environment! The article observes that telecommuting actually causes “cabin fever” which in turn causes more travel to lunches with friends, run errands, shopping, etc. On top of this, telecommuting causes increased use of electricity and gas for heating/cooling that might not otherwise be used if we went into an office.

I recently talked with three friends who telecommute. I realize that this is a small sample, but this will at the very least, give us a glimpse of how three typical Americans use technology for work and their work-at-home habits.

Jackie K. lives and works in Virginia Beach, VA., Chuck H. in Brooklyn, NY, and Nate J. in Westchester County, NY: two suburbanites and one urbanite. Here are their responses to a few of my questions:

Questions	Jackie K.	Chuck H.	Nate J.
Occupation	Staff Trainer	Researcher	Publishing Sales
How long would you have to travel if you went into your office?	About 30 miles to and fro.	About 100 miles to and fro.	Depends on which clients he meets
How often do you work from home?	3-5 days a week.	3 days a week,	Everyday except if travelling.
How do you commute to work?	Drive	Take train	Drive
How do you use technology to work from home?	Instant Messaging, emails especially, teleconferencing, WebEx.	Emails, digital drop boxes, and occasionally video conferencing.	Emails, WebEx, video conferencing
What sort of power source(s) do you use when you work from home?	Air/Heat, laptop, turn on TV or radio sometimes,	Air/Heat and PC.	Air/Heat and PC.
What sort of errands do you run when working from home? And how do you run your errands?	Drive to the mall and grocery. Meet friends for lunch about 1-2 times a week.	Walk out to grab coffee.	Run occasional errands, but not much. Am out meeting customers about 1-2 times a week.
Would you run these errands if you were in an office	Probably not.	Yes.	Probably not or after work.
Do you think telecommuting has helped you reduce your carbon footprint?	Yes. Can train staff members using Webex and video conferencing now. Had to reserve a location in the past, and about 10-20 staff members would travel to meet at the location.	No difference. I actually save on heat/cooling bills and electricity if I work at my office.	Yes. Webex and video conferencing allows for presentations to be done online. Webex even allows for Nate to manipulate customers’ computer screens so they get to see what is on his screen, e.g. his PPTs. This cuts down on travel extensively, as he would otherwise have to drive up to 200 miles sometimes to meet clients. His clients can also see the presentations from the comfort of their own homes instead of having to travel to one location just to attend a presentation.

Although this is not a scientific survey, we can still clearly see that a city dweller telecommuting doesn’t make much of a difference. In fact, he would use electricity and other power sources at home that he wouldn’t otherwise have used if he were in an office. How green telecommuting is also seemingly depends on one’s occupation. For example, in the cases of Nate J. and Jackie K., telecommuting makes a lot of sense and has helped them reduce their carbon footprint significantly. Video conferencing and Webex has made virtual presentations and trainings possible, and it not only eliminates their need for travel exponentially, but also the customers and staff members involved. Both Jackie and Nate also noted that WebEx trainings and presentations even betters face-to-face meetings sometimes, as it allows the sessions to become more interactive – for example, participants who are normally shy in group meetings can send instant private messages to the presenter. In Nate’s case, he also likes turning control of a presentation over to any one of the participants to let him/her trial the product he is selling.

In the end, I have to say that the digital medium has a humongous potential to help us become greener citizens. The reality, however, of what is “saved” currently remains hazy. It all boils down to the choices we make when we work from home. How can we conserve more? Even though telecommuting in and of itself is considered to be green, we still have to make a conscious effort so that we end up consuming less when telecommuting than when travelling to work. Since we have the luxury of working from home, perhaps we can cycle to run our errands instead of drive? Perhaps walk to a nearby Starbucks if we get claustrophobic at home and work on our emails there instead? What do you think? I would love to hear your comments!