Work from home to save planet | Bay of Plenty News | Local News in Bay of Plenty

Staff working from home could save businesses thousands in fuel costs and the planet tonnes in carbon dioxide emissions, Bay businesses were told yesterday.

A GreenFleet Transport Workshop run by the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) yesterday included a presentation, via Skype, by teleworking expert Bevis England.

Mr England said that if 23 per cent of New Zealand's workforce worked from home two days a week it would save 402,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. It would also save 48 million hours in travel time.

While not applicable to all staff, Mr England said the majority of companies could incorporate a teleworking element, provided the idea was correctly implemented and managed.

He described it as "meeting objectives by enabling and supporting effectively managed work in non-traditional places".

GreenFleet programme manager Mark Roberts highlighted the fact the world would soon reach the point of peak oil, if it had not already.

Mr Roberts gave suggestions on ways to increase fuel efficiency.

He said in order to increase the efficiency of a company's vehicle fleet, there may be alternative transport options for staff who travelled fewer than 10,000 kilometres.

Employers needed to look at the efficiency of staff travelling more than 45,000km a year during work hours.

Mr Roberts also provided practical advice for drivers wanting to increase their fuel efficiency and decrease carbon emissions, and encouraged businesses to create alternative travel plans.

The workshop was one of a series run as part of the SBN Get Sustainable Challenge 08. The challenge helps a business identify what it needs to do to become sustainable and begins with an assessment of current practice.

SBN staff then work with the business to identify challenges in improving its sustainability.