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How to Go Green: Work from Home
Working from home can be a great alternative to a desk in a cubicle, but, as many people who try it will tell you, it isn't as easy as slapping your laptop down on the dining room table. And, while wearing pajamas all day might sound nice, it doesn't make the cut for many who work from home. Still, whether you embrace the romantic-sounding ideals of managing a home office or not, one thing remains true: It can be way greener than commuting to an office every day.
From cutting out the commute to scaling back on unnecessary paper or energy use, there are tons of ways that working from home can help make you just as happy, healthy, and successful as you might be working in an office, but it isn't quite as simple as inserting recycled paper in your printer tray. You'll want to take action to insure you create and maintain a healthy home working environment, and do things like schedule sufficient breaks, to help keep your mind and body moving throughout the day.
And, while it's easy to concentrate on the environmental benefits of working from home, the mental and emotional ones are sometimes just as important, which is while it's important to carefully consider a space in which you can comfortably, productively work (and not just an empty closet you don't have anything else to do with). The benefits—environmental, emotional, or otherwise—can be myriad, so if you hate commuting, if you're most productive outside a traditional 9-5 schedule, or if you just got laid off, then working from home might be the answer. And while some of the green changes you'd make by skipping the office are obvious—like cutting your carbon output by not commuting and saving on disposable lunch containers—there are dozens more choices, from desks to chairs to pencils, that you can turn into an opportunity to support eco-friendly products. Read on to learn how to go green while working from home.
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