I, like many other people in the United States, am not fortunate enough to live close enough to work that I can walk or bike. When possible, my co-workers and I attempt to car pool but with differing schedules, this is not possible 100% of the time.

One day at lunch I was looking around my office at the many, many people eating and talking, and it dawned on me: most (if not all) of these people rely on individual transportation to get to work. "What a shame!" I thought to myself. "If there was only a way to reduce the amount that people had to drive to get to work!" With a mass rail or transit system out of the question, because we do not live in a very densely populated place, I began racking my brain for ways to decrease the amount of carbon produce by my office in our collect daily commute.

Inspired by a comment from my mom ("If you are so unhappy with the situation, why don’t you just quit!"), I decided to attempt to not go into work. No, I didn’t quit. What I did do was sit down with my boss and analyze the work I do on a day-to-day basis, and which things I do that could be done from home.

While it was not an easy subject to approach, nor the most comfortable conversation I have ever had, I came out with a totally new work schedule. It was important to stress that I would not be doing less work, nor would the quality of my work decrease. Also, we agreed that if either scenario happened, that I would immediately return to my normal work schedule. Now, instead of driving to work five days a week, arrive at 9 am and leaving around 5pm, I have flexibility in my "office hours."

This is beneficial in two ways: First, I do not have to drive to and from the office nearly as much, as I have days in my week that do not require any "office hours" at all. Secondly, when I am required to be in the office, I do not necessarily have to drive in peak rush hour anymore. This is a significant improvement to my old routine, as I was wasting a lot of gas, and emitting a ton of extra carbon sitting on the highway in traffic.

Now, a friend of mine alerted me to the fact that I might be using more carbon to heat my house in the winter than I would be using to drive to work. This may be true in some cases, but if you take the extra steps necessary to winterize your home, the point should be pretty much null and void.

According to the International Telework Association and Council (ITAC), I am apparently not the first person to love the idea of working from home. If fact, ITAC claims that by 2010, the number of people working from home will increase from the current 26 million to an incredible 100 million. That means there may be 74 million less people driving to work everyday!

While working from home may not be an option for everyone, it is an avenue that I strongly suggest checking out. Before my uncomfortable discussion with my boss, I would never have though it possible that I could work from home.

photo credit- workingathomeopportunity.com