While some might consider it laziness, it turns out that working from home, using Netflix for date night and general homebody behavior is actually a great – and easy – way to help the environment.
A new study published in the journal Joule has discovered that staying home, particularly during the working day, helps to lower energy consumption that is harmful for the environment.
The new research looked at the affects of telecommuting and choosing home activities over going out over the 2002-2012 period, and found that Americans are increasingly becoming homebodies.
Taking the option: People working from home and swapping outings for nights watching Netflix has helped conserve energy, according to new research
The study of 11,000 Americans found that they are spending on average a full eight more days at home every year.
The summary for the research reveals: ‘Increased residential time is mainly due to increased work at home, video watching, and computer use.’
From the rise of Netflix to Amazon removing the need to leave your house to buy just about anything, Americans appear to be finding it less and less necessary to venture out of their homes.
Then there is also the rise of telecommuting which has been made easier with advances in technology such as Skype and other software.
Employers have also become more open to the idea of letting workers stay home more often.
According to Gallup, the number of people who are not self-employed – as in, are not freelancers – who work from home has grown by 115 per cent since 2005.
But the development has apparently been a positive thing for America’s energy savings, with the research crediting the reduction of 1,700 trillion BTU (British thermal units, which is a measurement of energy) to Americans staying home.
This number adds up to 1.8 per cent of America’s total energy usage in 2012 – a massive amount.
The reduction is mostly down to the cut of transportation between home and other places. People are taking less trips on the bus or in the car simply because they are opting to stay in.
The data isn’t entirely uniform however, as people over 65 interviewed for the survey spent more time out of their homes in 2012 than in 2002 – though this is mostly due to older people remaining in the workforce.