3 ms·

The standard argument from now on should be... think of the planet and the massive savings in transportation induced greenhouse gases.

snarfy 3y ago
Yep. If you are forcing work-from-office but it's not actually required, I think you should be forced to pay for the carbon footprint.
- dekervin 3y ago
  I tought that idea had legs. Just looked at the price of carbon credits. It's around $ 15.0/tCO2e [0]. And on average a commuting employee emits around 4.96kg of C02. The price is so low it's clear the market is underpricing the externalities massively. I have to admit, the market is the wrong instrument for this problem. [0] https://carboncredits.com/how-to-calculate-carbon-credits/ https://carboncredits.com/how-to-calculate-carbon-credits/ [1] https://www.climatepartner.com/en/news/how-sustainable-commuting-can-improve-a-company-carbon-footprint#:~:text=Due%20to%20its%20significant%20impact,per%20commuting%20employee%20per%20day https://www.climatepartner.com/en/news/how-sustainable-commu....
basisword 3y ago
Companies have anticipated this argument. I’m not sure I believe them but apparently working in the office is more environmentally friendly in a lot of cases.
- dekervin 3y ago
  I would love to have that argument with higher-ups. In fact I would love to have them state their facts on public record. Just so historians have a paper trail to follow when they will try to answer the question , "what were they thining?" .
  - Lio 3y ago
    In practice you can't get away with that. It's like trying to argue that it would be a good idea to keep skills in house or objecting to some of the weird HR fads that go around like personality "tests"; you can't win. They may be acting irrationally but they don't want about it. The best thing, and probably the only thing, you can do is move to a job that treats you better. Remember though, the old company probably won't miss you because they're not interested in how retention affects performance. It's best to be dispassionate about it. We're all just "resource" and jobs are just "work". Disclaimer: I have worked fully remotely since 2016 and wouldn't go back to an office I couldn't cycle to in 30 minutes.
- ghaff 3y ago
  >apparently working in the office is more environmentally friendly in a lot of cases. I would think you'd need very specific conditions. The office has to be climate-controlled in any case so any extra AC or heat used at home is incremental. (Other utilities etc. at home are probably pretty minor.) But to be a net negative, you probably have to assume you're not driving or you're only driving a short distance.

snarfy 3y ago

Yep. If you are forcing work-from-office but it's not actually required, I think you should be forced to pay for the carbon footprint.

dekervin 3y ago
I tought that idea had legs. Just looked at the price of carbon credits. It's around $ 15.0/tCO2e [0]. And on average a commuting employee emits around 4.96kg of C02. The price is so low it's clear the market is underpricing the externalities massively. I have to admit, the market is the wrong instrument for this problem. [0] https://carboncredits.com/how-to-calculate-carbon-credits/ https://carboncredits.com/how-to-calculate-carbon-credits/ [1] https://www.climatepartner.com/en/news/how-sustainable-commuting-can-improve-a-company-carbon-footprint#:~:text=Due%20to%20its%20significant%20impact,per%20commuting%20employee%20per%20day https://www.climatepartner.com/en/news/how-sustainable-commu....

basisword 3y ago

Companies have anticipated this argument. I’m not sure I believe them but apparently working in the office is more environmentally friendly in a lot of cases.

dekervin 3y ago
I would love to have that argument with higher-ups. In fact I would love to have them state their facts on public record. Just so historians have a paper trail to follow when they will try to answer the question , "what were they thining?" .
- Lio 3y ago
  In practice you can't get away with that. It's like trying to argue that it would be a good idea to keep skills in house or objecting to some of the weird HR fads that go around like personality "tests"; you can't win. They may be acting irrationally but they don't want about it. The best thing, and probably the only thing, you can do is move to a job that treats you better. Remember though, the old company probably won't miss you because they're not interested in how retention affects performance. It's best to be dispassionate about it. We're all just "resource" and jobs are just "work". Disclaimer: I have worked fully remotely since 2016 and wouldn't go back to an office I couldn't cycle to in 30 minutes.
ghaff 3y ago
>apparently working in the office is more environmentally friendly in a lot of cases. I would think you'd need very specific conditions. The office has to be climate-controlled in any case so any extra AC or heat used at home is incremental. (Other utilities etc. at home are probably pretty minor.) But to be a net negative, you probably have to assume you're not driving or you're only driving a short distance.