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BANG FOR THE BITE
Not every boss will get immediately on board, but if 10,000 Biters telecommute once a week, in a year we'll have the CO2-reducing effect of 560 people switching from conventional cars to hybrids.
COCKTAIL FACT
On Jul. 1, most government employees in Birmingham, AL, started working four days a week to save on commuting costs.
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home › tip library › Working at Home
Wanna wear white to work after Labor Day?
The Bite
If you work from home, you can wear white whenever you damn well please. See if your boss will let you work from home once a week - it'll save transportation energy and gives you a few more minutes of precious, precious shuteye in the a.m. Works for us.The Benefits
- Working for a cleaner planet. If the 33 million Americans who could work from home did work from home, we'd save as much as 7.5 billion gallons of gas each year.
- Less laboring over fuel costs. As of last week, the average gallon of gas in the United States cost $3.74. Nuff said.
- Pressing Snooze a couple more times. Since there's no commute, you can get a little more sleep.
- A less frustrating telecommute. It's 2008. You might be surprised at the new (and often free) virtual-office tech out there, which makes it way easy to stay connected, even from your bedroom.
Personally Speaking
The SF Biter team works from home once a week...and it usually adds an extra hour of work to our day that we woulda spent commuting. It also means we can work even when we've got the flu. Awesome.Wanna Try?
- Adium and Digsby - free Mac and Windows (respectively) programs that let you chat via AOL, MSN, Yahoo, and other services, all at once.
- FreeConference - schedule conference calls for free (you do have to call a long-distance number).
- Genesys - top-of-the-line videoconferencing software from a company that'll perform an energy-savings audit for you; its calculator shows managers how much money you can save by videoconferencing.
- Skype - make free calls to anywhere in the world using your computer.
- FlexJobs - scope out job listings for thousands of jobs that let you work from home.
Aug 29,2008
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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Desk
Welcome to my virtual office, where oftentimes the most exciting moments of my day are a visit from the pool man or getting a paper cut. Ooh, and I recently got to experience my first virtual baby shower for Alison, our Chicago Editor. As the lone Ideal Bite employee in LA, I see my co-worker's avatars a helluva lot more than I see their actual faces.
Even though the work I do (writing, editing, research) lends itself to working solo, it can make me feel crazy at times.
Here's what myself and other Biter employees do to stay sane while working from home:
Even though the work I do (writing, editing, research) lends itself to working solo, it can make me feel crazy at times.
Here's what myself and other Biter employees do to stay sane while working from home:
- Leave the house before you turn on your computer (i.e. take a walk, go to a yoga class, get a cuppa coffee, etc.) - anything that makes you get dressed and brush your teeth so you don't find yourself still in your PJs at 4 p.m.
- Designate an office space in your home that's purely dedicated to work (our new Denver Editor, Laurie, worked from her living room on her first day and ending up hating her couch by 6 o'clock).
- Set office hours for yourself so that you know when to start and stop.
- Listen to soothing, ambient music, but rock out to something fun when you need a burst of energy.
- Give yourself a lunch break. Whether you use that time to grab a bite (preferably with a friend), run an errand, or get some exercise, it's up to you. Just make sure that you get fresh air and talk to an actual human being to prevent yourself from feeling isolated. (But make sure to have a happy fridge so that if you do have to work through lunch, you're not stuck with a mustard and ketchup sandwich outta desperation.)
- Get a furry friend - it'll give you (more or less silent) company. And if you have a dog, it forces to you to take it for walks and see the light of day.
- Leave the house soon after your workday ends (i.e. meet a friend for dinner, work out, etc.) to help get work out of your system for the day.
- Remember to appreciate how awesome it is that you can work all day long in your PJs if you want to.
-LA Editor Molly...off to take a brisk walk...
Biter Comments...
I have read more than once that the energy saved by not commuting to work is actually outweighed by the energy used when people are working at home -- AC/heat, water, lighting, etc. Something to think about.
I'm currently working from home because I threw out my back. It's been a great advantage to work through my regular computer at work as I have all the programs from there at home. The organization I work for has this option for employees on the road. It would be nice to offer it to trustworthy employees that have long commutes.
Its been easier to get more done as I don't have the usual distractions around me (like five other phones ringing and conversations). With a little extra effort and discussions with my boss, I'm hoping this could be part of a regular schedule as my commute is 35 minutes one way!
Given that I'm home to turn off all the lights that my kids leave on when they leave, I think I'm saving more energy than what is normally wasted.
All around it seems better for the environment, me and the company that I spend more time working from home than in my cloth covered box. Heck, someone else could use that space.
I love the Bite site and frequently forward Tips to co-workers and friends...but I think it would be no loss of impact or emphasis if we eliminated cursing in our text. Hey, it could be the best dang/darn site ever for practical greening tips for life.
We are remodeling and my home office was moved to the laundry room. Hmmm - is this a ploy to get me to keep the laundry going while working?
I'm shocked y'all did not address the issue of increased energy use at home. it would be interesting to see a comparison of the amount of fuel involved in commuting to the amount of fuel used by one person heating/cooling/lighting/powering their home office.
The energy used depends on the situation. I have a well-lit office so don't turn on lights, no AC, and don't turn the heat up much (just dress like I'm outside!) in the winter.
Other programs that are super helpful are remote desktop management ones. It's standard on PCs, a free download from Microsoft for accessing a PC from a Mac, and I use the free Chicken of the VNC for Mac to Mac (talk to an IT person if you have a complicated network).
As Katie mentioned, whether you reduce emissions can depend on your office situation - i.e. are you purchasing a new copy machine for your home when there's already one in the office? Are you constantly running errands throughout the day that require travel by car? Does your company's office use energy-efficient lighting, while your home office doesn't? The potential for emissions coming from telework were covered by this 2003 study: http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/esthag/2003/37/i16/abs/es025849p.html (there's a news story that breaks the findings down here: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=6364172), but there are more studies than not (a few are listed here: http://www.rff.org/rff/News/Features/Telecommuting-Whos-Doing-it-and-What-Impact-Will-It-Have-on-the-Environment.cfm) that point to telecommuting having a very postive effect on the planet.
"Remember to appreciate how awesome it is that you can work all day long in your PJs if you want to."
I really do appreciate this! Sometimes I think I want to go to the office to meet some of my coworkers but I know I will almost immediately regret this. And I have commuting. I think I am lucky to work from home. This job resources will help you in your quest of finding a suitable job at home.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Laura | August 29, 2008 at 05:29 AM