How to Keep the Environment in Mind While Working Remotely
The College has committed to reaching carbon neutrality and climate resilience by 2030. Although we have made significant progress toward these goals, there is much more work to do.
Spurred by the necessity of working remotely during the pandemic, a number of staff continue to work remotely or hybrid. Remote work is generally estimated to reduce an organization’s environmental impact due to reduced commuting, flexible hours, and less disposable food and beverage packaging. There are, however, impacts from distributing workers in home offices rather than having them share space with each other, such as increased energy use for lighting, heating, and cooling. Staff working remotely or hybrid can make some simple changes to make their remote workspace more sustainable. Here are some tips to ensure you are being as environmentally conscious as possible.
Reduce Energy Consumption
Natural light can be just as effective as electric light. Be sure to utilize nature’s resources and open all of the blinds or shades in the room where your workspace is located.
Another way to reduce energy consumption is to be conscious of when objects are turned on or plugged in. For example, shutting down your computer at the end of the day and unplugging a phone charger or appliance you are not using can save a bit of energy.
Invest in a Water Filter or a Reusable Bottle
Investing in a water filter is a great way to cut down on your use of plastic water bottles. Using a reusable water bottle is another option. By taking either of these actions, you are helping the environment, because plastic water bottles often end up in landfills and plastic can take up to 500 years to decompose.
Buy Organic and Reusable Cleaning Products
Keep your home workspace clean in a green fashion by using reusable paper towels and sustainable cleaning products. Several cleaning sprays can be harmful to the environment. Sustainable products may cost slightly more, but they do the job just as well and are less harmful to humans and the environment. An easy way to find out if your products are sustainable is to read the ingredients label and the main label and look up any ingredients that you are unsure of. If you really want to dive in, you can check out the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Guide to Healthy Cleaning.
Composting and Paper Usage
Although It is easier to throw all products into one or two cans, take the environmentally friendly path and separate your garbage into three containers: recycling, trash, and compost. Composting is a great way to save leftovers or food that isn’t being used. Food waste in landfills breaks down anaerobically, releasing methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Easy guides can be found online for how and what to compost at Mass.gov. View a map of compost drop-off sites in Boston on the City’s website.
Managing your paper usage is another way to reduce your carbon footprint. Smart notebooks are a great way to take notes on “paper.” You can write on reusable pages with a special pen and then save the pages as PDFs, typically. You can then erase the pages, and you have a fresh new notebook to write in. This is a great alternative to using paper for note-taking.
Have your own tips to share with colleagues? Share them in the new #sustainability channel on Slack!
Vani Hanamirian ’26