Monday, December 10, 2007

Essential Skill #21: Work at Home

It takes a lot less energy making the trip on foot to your home office than to drive the average 25-minute commute to work outside the house. Yet, only 1 in 10 of us make the most of this opportunity to not only save on CO2 emissions, but also to save on time and money.

It's Essential Skill #21 in The Live Earth Global Warming Survival Handbook: Work at home.

As author David de Rothschild points out, "2 weeks would be saved each year if you eliminated your daily 40-minute commute." More importantly, "If one million people worked at home full-time, we'd eliminate 3 millions tons of CO2 a year."

Though 9 in 10 of us still drive to work every day, the number of people who choose to work from home is growing every year -- by 7.5% in the US alone.

If the nature of your job allows, ask your employer about telecommuting. Find a new work-at-home position. Or start your own home-based business. There are countless resources out there to help you get started, such as 2Work-At-Home and Home Based Working Moms.

"Steer clear of the TV, chores, phone calls to friends, and other distractions," warns de Rothschild. "You're setting a brave example here, not catching up on E!"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We've been working at home for the past 8 years. Distractions were definitely a big problem at first. What better way to procrastinate on your job than by doing the laundry or the dishes instead? Now, though, we're in quite a disciplined routine ... almost to a fault. Working where you live, it sometimes feels like you're working all the time, or thinking about it. Still, the freedom and flexibility make it the best way of working in the world, and the eco-friendly part is just a big bonus.