"Working from home can cut your employment-related carbon footprint by more than half, a study found."

"Driving into the office used to be a normal part of the workday. Sipping coffee from a travel mug and turning up the radio or audiobook while sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic was a daily ritual.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed that, and now many employees and companies are embracing remote and hybrid work. And that can sharply reduce their carbon footprints.

Cornell and Microsoft researchers found in a recent study published in the journal PNAS that switching from working on-site to working remotely five days a week led to a 54% reduction in a worker’s employment-related carbon footprint.

Surprisingly, they also found that emissions were only reduced by 2% when people worked from home one day a week and commuted the other four days. Hybrid workers who worked from home for two to four days cut their emissions between 11 and 29%."

Kristen Pope reports for Yale Climate Connections December 15, 2023. [2]