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Little steps forward - Let's not go back to office life!

     Recently their has been talk in the news of why no one wishes to return to office.   Part of that is due to COVID of course, the gift that just keeps giving.   Part of that is family, as various people are rediscovering the joy of just being together.

     Others, and I am including myself in this bunch...really see no reason to return to the office.  I see no reason to drive the roughly 30 minutes one way that is the average commute.   Considering that I am more or less able to do my job from home with close to the same proficiency.  I am also looking at this as an environmentalist and as a frugal SOB.      

    Working from home simply means no commute.   Currently my car sits idle five or more days at a time.   I do take it out here and there to run it, just to keep the oil and gas moving.  As I've recently learned, going meatless just one meal a week is equal to NOT driving 320 miles.   Since the Average Joe/Jane drives 32 miles total just as part of there daily round trip commute, that's amazing!

    It's not much, but my working from home and small steps at eating healthier have reduced my carbon footprint drastically.  Frankly I really don't see any practical reason to return to the office.  After all, in the past year and 1/2 we have all experienced first hand that our productivity doesn't really fall if we are in our bathrobes or a three piece suite.   

    While I will admit to missing donuts in the break room and having a "work spouse" frankly I see little reason to return.   For me, the benefits of not commuting, the financial savings on gas and the environmental impact more than make up any benefit that I may gain from being in the office.  

    Some corporations recognize this of course, others do not.   Still some, my current employer included, are looking at some sort of hybrid model between the two.  Frankly the old 9 - 5 work model is out the window and I'm not sad to see it go.

      

    As we look into a dark future of rising sea levels and killer storms, it makes sense to try and stay home.  Yes, this will disrupt the economy as little diners disappear from city centers and other things shift as well towards more mixed use communities but frankly we have to end this obsession with driving and convenience.  Not only would this be environmentally smarter, but financially savvy as well.   I'm going to talk about personal savings first.

    Since past March, we have been staying at home, although the economy and society as as whole is opening back up there was a significant uptick on how people saved money.  

    A majority of that savings was actually caused by a forced change in lifestyle.  When the average American spends nearly $3000 on gas per year (these figures have changed since that original article) and suddenly they have no where to go, they saved that money.   It's one of the driving forces now over the "hiring issues" that employers face.   If we have to go back into the office, people want higher wages and more respect from their employers.

    Or in other words, people got used to having money in their pockets

 

 

    Lets add another step to this process, it's an environmental one.  If you have a small garden and eat what you grow,  as that little graph above shows, your going to eat fresher and healthier food.   Growing a garden helps even more because it cuts that production chain down saving you money.   As well as make the world a little greener and cooler.   One of the reasons I stopped mowing a section of our yard was to cut down on the amount of gas I used as well as the emissions from the lawn mower just to give you an example of a little step forward.

    If anything is going to help, because it will not be our so called "leaders" then it's up to us to take all those small steps we have been taking for a while now...and make a slightly larger step.   

    To actually garden, to actually change the way we look at our yards and finally to change the way we look at our diets.   It's actually not that scary.   In fact, it's actually very doable.

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Location: Stoneboro, PA 16153, USA

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