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Climate change is real. So, unless you’re still getting your facts from crazy Uncle Jim who seems to be trapped in a different century, the latest grim statistics are pretty hard to ignore. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s, we’ve largely been a society of polluters (though, in the last 60 years, we’ve done the greatestamount of damage). This is mostly due to the way we get around, the things we buy, and the types of jobs we do. Don’t panic yet, though: there are many ways you can help cut down on harmful emissions, and here at Sales Beacon, we’re working hard to do our part too.

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Sales Beacon has been a 100% virtual employer for over a decade.  This means that all of our employees telecommute, meaning they can work anywhere there’s internet. Because our staff isn’t reporting to an office every day, there are several ways in which we cut down on harmful waste, while also helping our team lead more fulfilling lives (with more money in their pockets!).

 

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NO COMMUTE = LESS VEHICLE EMISSIONS & MORE TIME!

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Nearly half of commuters in Canada (our home base) travel by car for an average of 45.6km per day, just to get to and from work. If you consider that in 2016, half of Canadians totalled 15.9 million, that’s an awful lot of Co2 emissions!

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Since every last one of our employees gets to skip that long, treacherous trek to work every day, we’re helping to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and we’re proud of it!  In fact, we calculated how many vehicle kilometres we saved in 2018, and it was a staggering 711,360. This is equal to 75 trips around the world! We also managed to save 1 million Kg in greenhouse gas emissions, which is equivalent to burning 340,000 litres of gas! Now, if you ask us, that’s pretty impressive!

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Similarly for our southern neighbours, “about 135 million Americans commute to work…If all those workers skipped the commute for half of their normal work days, it would have the greenhouse gas equivalency of removing 10 million cars from the road,” says Sandy Batchelor of U.C. Davis. On average, a single passenger vehicle emits 4.6 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which makes that a savings of about 46 million metric tonnes of Co2! That’s really something!

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On top of cutting down on harmful waste by having a totally remote workforce, Sales Beacon is also preserving the most precious resource there is: time. Consider that a typical commute takes 52 minutes (round trip). Add that up, and our telecommuting employees gain on average 28 extra days per year! That’s time they can spend with their families, on their hobbies, and doing things like volunteering, going to school, or just getting outside on a nice day!

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NO OFFICE = LESS WASTE & MORE SPACE!

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Think of how much paper is wasted in an office. Although we now have the technology to do everything online, there are still many companies who use printers multiple times a day. This isn’t to mention the other waste that’s created in an office, like take-out containers, equipment packaging, plastic bottles, etc… Even though most offices recycle, an excess amount of waste is still created, if not only because offices generally don’t have dishes, or cookware, so more wasteful products are used instead. Because all of our employees telecommute, there’s no need for any extra waste than what is normally created while at home.

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Also, because we don’t require an office building with lights, water, air conditioning/heating, etc, Sales Beacon also dramatically conserves energy. In 2018 alone, we saved 239,928 kilowatt hours! To understand this better, consider that one household in British Columbia uses on average 10,000 kWh per year. So, basically, we saved 24 households worth of energy in one year!

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Another benefit of not having a physical office is preserving space. With fewer office buildings in the world, we could have more green space. Imagine that–walking down the street, and actually seeing grass, instead of cement. It’s a future we’re hoping for, and helping to create!

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FEWER BUSINESS TRIPS = CLEANER AIR & LESS STRESS!

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With a staff made up entirely of telecommuters, Sales Beacon doesn’t consider business trips a necessity, because we can meet up in other ways if needed! Why would we make our team stress about catching a flight, hauling heavy luggage, or spending hours in transit when we have the ability to meet via video conference from anywhere in the world? If you think of all the plane, train, and bus rides we don’t take in a year, just imagine how much cleaner the air must be! Not to mention, how much less stress our staff experiences!

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OTHER WAYS TELECOMMUTING BENEFITS OUR TEAM:

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Because our employees work from the comfort of their homes, it enables them to save money on things like office clothes, take-out food, parking, bridge tolls, wear-and-tear on their vehicles, and much more. Parents can stay at home with their kids, people can stay in their small communities.

In an article published in The Province, Julien Picault of The University of British Columbia (Okanagan Campus) states “employees benefit in ways other than the reduction in commuting time, cost and GhGs [greenhouse gases]. These include an enhanced work-life balance, increased job satisfaction, improved temporal and spatial flexibility and reduced stress.” Studies have also shown that when given the opportunity to work from home, employees are actually more productive.

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NUMBERS DON’T LIE, AND NEITHER DO WE!

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When it comes to Sales Beacon, the numbers don’t lie: having a staff of 100% telecommuters has allowed us to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint, while providing our team with more freedom to spend their time and money however they please. Remote work is beneficial to both the employer, and employees in many ways. As Sales Beacon’s CEO, Cynthia Spraggs says, “I did my MBA thesis on telecommuting in 1993 and haven’t worked in an office since 1995.  It’s something I’m passionate about because I’ve been able to travel the world and make a great living at the same time”.

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If you’d like to calculate what your savings would be, check out these links:

Employee savings: https://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/employee-savings-calculator

Employer savings: https://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/roi

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