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Comment by SigmundA | Hacker News Reader

Doesn't seem to be much discussion about the environmental impact of remote work.

Lately I have been feeling how ridiculous it is for me to drive everyday to a office and sit at a computer then drive home. So inefficient from an energy usage perspective.

I see so many jobs that could easily be remote if people could deal with the issues outlined here.

Imagine the difference in traffic and office space if every job that could be remote was. I would think the environmental impact would be huge.

In a utopian view I could see us returning to small villages as there is no need to move to the city. You could live in smaller communities wherever you like with others you get along with in person.

High speed internet has made this possible, but it seem like we have just scratched the surface of how it could change society and the planet.

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There is a company in Switzerland that is trying to get companies stop having their own offices, instead offer to employees the possibility to work in their local town / village in coworking spaces that they connect to the network.

To work at home is not for everyone, it can be lonely, you might not have an extra rooms to use as an office. So with their still the employer paying for your office and for all the infrastructure you need.

http://www.villageoffice.ch/en/the-coworking-network/

I did some reading on the impact of remote work on the environment last year, unfortunately it seems I may have been too aggressive with my bookmark pruning and can no longer find the material I managed to dig up. Between just the pure numbers of cars being removed from the road and the improved efficiency of those that remain (less stop & go traffic, etc), the impact seems to be fairly substantial.

Plus then companies can have smaller offices, saving money and energy. People save themselves an hour or two every day by avoiding the commute. You have to wonder how much the butts-in-seats philosophy is actually costing the world.

Co-working spaces could be a big deal if they catch up (i.e. if real estate prices drop enough so they can be affordable to everyone). They would create small "commercial" regions around them with a small scale economy around them, and that could be transformative for neighborhoods.

I've been saying this for a decade. Not many things have changed since :(

I wonder if the claim of environmental friendliness actually works out in practise. Friends of mine who do remote jobs occasionally have the need to meet in person requiring international flights (which while being infrequent, are far more impactful than a local commute by car). You could say this isn't true remote work, but it seems to be the common manifestation. Conversely you can live closely enough to a workplace to walk or cycle.

Imagine the difference in traffic and office space if every job that could be remote was.

I was wondering how much work cannot be remoted and it seems a lot. Remote work is a privilege.

It seems to me nearly all white collar office/desk jobs could be remote as they basically involve sitting at a desk with a computer and phone. I believe more than half of all jobs in the US are considered white collar.

Perhaps I'm overly optimistic about what could be done remote, but modern cities seem to be basically a bunch of tall buildings with offices that have a desk and computer to sit at.

You are cheating! Not all white collar workers can work remotely. Everything healthcare, legal, teachers, everybody with a public-facing work, computer technicians, sales... Actually, could anybody make the reverse list? Better than dismiss the discussion with another downvote.

But the decrease in traffic and used office space translates to significantly less commuting time and more space at work for people who can't work remotely. It benefits everyone.

Cities are essential for social life since an abundance of social events, potential friends and sexual partners means that you'll be able to choose ones that you like more (or even have some as opposed to none).

The effect of remote work is instead that it no longer matters as much in which city you live, as long as it is large enough.

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