As someone with two kids under 3 years old, I look forward to the afternoons when the kids take their naps and I “visit” with Oprah. Being a regular viewer of the show, I have noticed that she is interviewing people, face-to-face, via Skype. If you don’t know what Skype is, then you should say hello to the 21st century and embrace this fantastic opportunity to lighten your carbon footprint.
Skype is just one example of the software now available out there that allows people to make phone calls over the internet and see each other face to face. By using the internet, Oprah has been able to reduce airplane travel for her guests and avert hundreds if not thousands of kilograms of greenhouse gas emitted into the air.
Now take that thinking to our workplaces. Imagine how much greenhouse gas we can avert if we didn’t have to drive or fly to meetings, present at conferences or even go to work! According to consulting firm InnoVisions Canada, about 1.5 million Canadians telework from home at least once a week. If a million telecommuters worked from home just one week day each year, Canada could save some 250 million kg of CO2 emissions; 100 million litres of fuel; and 800 million fewer kilometers of mileage on our roads. Additionally, we would save some $40 million in fuel costs, and 50 million hours of time, to spend with our families, or just reading a good book.
The internet is a great way to bring people and ideas together without actually bringing them together. And the big idea is to reduce the number of unnecessary trips that will contribute to the acceleration of climate change on Earth.
Make a difference − share this environmental tip with your friends.
