With the political outcome in the USA, we’ve probably all wondered about its impending effects on Mother Earth. How could we possibly make it green again without major political powers on board. Now more than ever, businesses and individuals need to bypass political elites on climate and contribute to saving our collective future on our own.

Why? Over 80% of people living in urban areas are exposed to unhealthy air according to WHO. At 404.93 parts per million, carbon dioxide levels in the air are at their highest in 650,000 years. The earth’s average temperature has gone up 1.7° F since 1,880 and is expected to increase even further by alarming 11.5° F over the next century. Arctic sea ice is declining at a rate of 13.3 percent per decade, while Antarctica and Greenland both are losing mass. Global sea level, on the other hand, has risen nearly 178 mm over the past 100 years or about 3.4 mm each year (source: NASA).

One way to make an impact: replace the on-site with online
Here at ISL Online, we are confident there is a lot we can do as individuals and businesses to help the environment and even save time and money doing it. With our core business focusing on remote work and collaboration over the Internet, we know we can all significantly cut back on CO2 emissions by just replacing the on-site with online.

Did you know transportation accounted for 14% of 2010 global greenhouse gas emissions, while in the U.S. alone it was considered the second largest contributor of the greenhouse gas emissions accounting for 26% of the total U.S. emissions in 2014 (source: EPA)? The chart below will give you a brief idea of the impact your flight has on the environment and how much carbon dioxide emissions you could cut just by collaborating online instead of on-site.

Cutting CO2 with remote support
As a worldwide remote desktop software provider for over a decade, we’ve noticed a positive trend towards businesses adopting the technology more readily. And while businesses gain in productivity, improve their customer service, and reduce support costs by resolving a majority of clients’ problems remotely, the environment is saved from millions of tons of harmful emissions.

If an average company providing support services to their clients had to travel to their clients’ premises in 30% of support cases before introducing remote desktop, troubleshooting remotely would bring enormous CO2 savings. Let’s take AlterData as an example. Ever since the largest software company in Brazil successfully introduced ISL Online as their main remote desktop solution (case study) back in 2013, they have been making about a million sessions per year. If we assume that 30% of the 1 million sessions would require road travel if they weren’t using remote desktop support, then with an assumed average of 15 miles per client, their yearly customer service would account for 4.5 million miles on the road contributing to as much as 1,350 tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. With so many emissions, it would take a forest of 62,315 trees to balance their impact. It really makes one think, doesn’t it?

Improve your work-life balance while cutting back on emissions
On the other hand, working remotely not only benefits the environment but it also helps individuals to balance their day better. With today’s ubiquitous Internet and powerful tools, there’s nothing actually tying you to the office anymore. Whether it’s the beach, backcountry or home you’d rather work from, saving the travelling time for something meaningful, you can access and use your own office computer, control and support your client’s computer, and chat online with clients and co-workers to cooperate effectively throughout the day.

The benefits? If you’re not driving to the site, you are saving both time and money, gaining the flexibility of choosing when and where to work from, while also keeping the environment cleaner by eliminating those unnecessary carbon emissions. There are several carbon calculators to show how much carbon you and your company reduce by not commuting to work.

We can all make an impact
Working remotely, supporting clients over the Internet, planting a tree, walking, cycling, using public transport, reusing shopping bags, choosing organic etc. While there are countless ways to contribute to our future, choose the ones that suit you best as individuals and businesses. Change the small and the big. Observe and improve. Why? Because you can.

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