Reduce carbon emissions9/13/2023 Employees’ homes represent their private sphere and organizations need to tread carefully so as not to overreach. Remote work presents fresh challenges for how best to observe and influence behaviors that matter for sustainability. How Can Companies Make WFH More Environmentally Sustainable? However, there is also a risk of increased electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) - an estimated 50 million tons a year globally, only 20% of which is formally recycled. Thus, WFH may have a net positive environmental impact for waste management behaviors, keeping in mind that local services like provision of waste bins for sorting and recycling are important enabling factors. In the UK, recycling increased during the first lockdown this aligns with past research showing that employees adopt more sustainable waste practices at home than at the office. Equally problematic is that the primary short-term WFH policy adopted by several companies has been to provide employees with laptops, even at the risk of duplicating devices. But the typical business person’s technology needs have now changed fewer in-person office interactions can mean more time spent communicating online. One study suggests that a “typical business” user - albeit in the pre-Covid-19 period - creates 135kg (298lbs) CO2e (i.e., carbon dioxide equivalent) from sending emails every year, which is the equivalent of driving 200 miles in a family car, just under the distance from Brussels to London. Technology footprintįrom an individual footprint perspective, our digital behaviors add up. Apart from changes to the work commute, potential changes in emissions arising from business-related travel in hybrid settings (e.g., events and conferences) will also matter. For example, in a Californian sample of employees who shifted to WFH during the Covid-19 pandemic, the decline in vehicle miles travelled was accompanied by a 26% increase in the average number of trips taken. Reduced commuting when WFH will undoubtedly yield environmental benefits, but there is emerging evidence of rebound effects, including increased non-work travel and more short trips. When companies craft remote work policies, for instance by subsidizing home energy bills, they also need to account for sustainability impacts from residential energy emissions. Ultimately, such impacts can vary substantially by employee’s individual characteristics (e.g., awareness, attitudes, family size, wealth), home infrastructure (e.g., building energy ratings, supplier), and even situational factors (e.g., geographic location and season). The impact of WFH on energy use is mixed, with some studies finding a positive effect, while others indicating a neutral or even a negative impact on energy use. Behavioral change across these domains can have major environmental impacts when aggregated across individuals, teams, companies, and industries. We highlight four behavioral domains that are particularly important: energy, travel, technology, and waste. To understand the sustainability implications of WFH, companies need to consider a range of environmentally relevant employee behaviors. How should remote work be accounted for against a company’s sustainability goals? What WFH Employee Behaviors Should Companies Consider? It also depends on several situational factors like home building and local infrastructure.įor companies racing to publish ESG indicators, like their carbon footprint, for example, this shift to remote work presents new challenges. The net sustainability impact depends on several employee behaviors, from travel to energy use, to digital device and waste management. Indeed, our research also shows that WFH is not a clear win for the environment. But what seemed like a promising trend soon faded away: emissions are now almost back at pre-pandemic levels, even as employees aren’t. ![]() Indeed, such dramatic changes in mobility, production, and consumption patterns, temporarily reduced global CO2 emissions by 17% in April 2020 compared to peak 2019 levels. With the daily commute all but cancelled during successive Covid-19 lockdowns, many have assumed that WFH will lead to environmental sustainability gains. Recent surveys show that 91% of remote employees would like to continue their hybrid or remote working, and 76% say their employer will allow them to work remotely going forward. Now, companies are experimenting with different models of remote work as we come out of the crises. alone rose from 5% to 37% during the height of the pandemic. The percentage of people working from home in the U.S. The Covid-19 pandemic gave rise to the largest remote work “experiment” in history, accelerating a long-term trend towards flexible, remote work, and digitalization.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |