Wherever I go, there I work (and play)

If Kermit was a teleworker, being green might be a little bit easier.

I was recently approached by the folks at Broadband for America to see if I would be willing to write a post about the environmental benefits of teleworking. Without hesitation, I said “yes” as I think the conversation of telework with regards to the green movement is just one of those things that makes sense (regardless of your political position, pollution is bad, right?!).

I’ve mentioned this before, but when I lived in the Twin Cities I made the daily commute to work each day. Not only did sitting in my car for 45 minutes drive me nuts, but so did the idea of wasting gas to sit in front of a computer all day. A person can sit in front of a computer at home, the library, the coffee shop, a co-working location, or Anywhere…right?

Now that I work from home, not only do I save on gas, I save money from having to pay for gas. And by not driving to work each day, that is one less car on the road to slow traffic down. Think of how quickly traffic would move (and save gas by minimizing stop-and-go traffic) if even 25% of daily commuters converted to telework.  Obviously, not everyone can perform their job in a telework arrangement so some people would still need to make the daily drive.

In order to push this movement towards telework, one of the main requirements is fast and dependable broadband access.  I am lucky enough to live in a region that is not only beautiful, but has fantastic options for broadband access. Grand Rapids has three primary choices for broadband service providers and there’s actually a local grant devoted making sure everyone in the area has access to broadband.

The provider I use has installed fiber optic cable right up to my house, and though I pay for a 1 MB up/down line, I’ve never clocked it at less than 3 MB up/down. We also have numerous dependable public wi-fi locations and a growing tech-incubator location.  It’s awesome to live in an area where I have access to the great outdoors, yet I’m still able to work like I’m in a metro area.

Telework and broadband-availability are positioned to have a tremendous effect on conservation and the decrease of greenhouse-gas emissions:

“According to an American Consumer Institute study, over the next 10 years, broadband applications will decrease greenhouse gas emissions by one billion tons. That study attributed this environmental savings to several broadband applications, including telecommuting, distance learning, teleconferencing and e-materialization.”  (“Telemedicine: Helping Consumers And The Environment,” The American Consumer Institute, Posted 3/4/08)

Switching to a telework arrangement with your employer does not have to be an abrupt, all-or-nothing change. You can start by suggesting a teleconference instead of a drive across town (or flight across the country) to meet with someone in person. You might try to attend a training session online instead of in-person.  By continually thinking along these lines, you may start a movement to telework and save on greenhouse emissions at the same time.

The question to ask is “Do I really need to be somewhere else to get this done?” Basically, do your computer and internet connection allow you to do here what you were intending on doing somewhere else?

Chime in with your thoughts, and take a look at Broadband for America whose mission is “to make broadband access to the internet available to every household in the nation; to provide data transfer speeds to make that broadband experience valuable to users; and to provide the bandwidth necessary for content providers to continue to make the internet a cultural, societal, and economic engine for growth.” Sounds good to me!