Unfortunately, more often than not, these are passing thoughts that we don’t act on. If you are a business owner looking for ways to reduce your carbon footprint, continue reading to find out 5 ways that you can make your business more eco-friendly.

1. Business Water Efficiency Audit

Water scarcity is becoming a growing concern in the UK. Arrange a water efficiency audit that will help your business protect the environment.

There are numerous benefits that this process provides, including a reduction in emissions. You will also save money on bills and can showcase that your business is environmentally friendly, helping you to acquire more customers.

Schedule your audit today to help the environment, boost the reputation of your business, and save money.

2. Cut Down on Plastic

You may find plastic cutlery convenient due to its disposability, but plastic pollution is a big environmental issue. Rather than going through hundreds of plastic forks and plates, invest in a set of reusable cutlery that will cut down on plastic waste, and save you money in the long run. Use bubble wrap sparingly or consider some eco-friendly alternatives. Plastic can come in handy, but you can make straightforward adjustments to limit your need for it.

3. Composting

Instead of throwing unused food straight into the waste bin, you can compost it to help reduce waste and pollution. If fruit & vegetables have gone off, they are great for compost. As are teabags (if made with biodegradable materials) and coffee grounds.

If compostable food has been left in the office kitchen over the weekend and is past its best, it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to go to waste. Start composting to help facilitate plant growth!

4. Sustainable Suppliers

Find suppliers who have built a reputation for sourcing items in the most sustainable way possible and who incorporate eco-friendly measures into their work.

Aim to source products that are made with natural materials. You can check the labels on products to see if they have environmentally-approved certification.

Finding a local supplier will reduce carbon emissions because it removes the necessity for stock to be delivered from the other end of the country to your base.

5. Recycled Paper

With the rise of technology, paper is nowhere near as necessary as it once was. However, many businesses still use it and can help the environment by investing in recycled paper. It is a sustainable option that aids forest conservation. Non-recycled paper produces more greenhouse gas emissions than its eco-friendly counterpart. Paper may not be as vital as it once was, but if your business still uses it, start using the recycled alternative today!

Conclusion

So, there we have it, 5 simple but effective ways to make your business more eco-friendly. Cutting down on water, reducing plastic, composting, finding sustainable suppliers, and using recycled paper are just a few of the many ways to reduce your carbon footprint!

By slightly altering existing habits, your business can not only help the environment, but also boost its reputation as a credible company.

The region’s housing stock—terraces, semis, and Federation-style homes—offers an ideal foundation for adaptive reuse. Whether it’s expanding space for a growing family or creating a flexible work-from-home setup, clever and eco-conscious extensions are shaping the future of urban living.

This article explores the top extension trends for 2025 in the Inner West—highlighting how you can enhance your home with smart, sustainable, and stylish upgrades.

1. Smart Space Solutions for Compact Homes

Over 50% of homes in the Inner West are narrow terraces or semis, making space optimization a top priority. In 2025, there’s a clear shift toward multi-purpose rooms, integrated storage, and custom joinery that uses every inch wisely—without feeling cramped.

From built-in desks under staircases to sliding partitions that convert living spaces into private zones, homeowners are embracing clever spatial planning as a necessity, not a luxury. Pocket doors, fold-down furniture, and modular cabinetry now help make tight homes feel expansive, flexible, and functional.

2. The Rise of Second-Storey Additions

With land at a premium, building upwards has become a go-to solution for Inner West residents who want more space without losing precious outdoor areas. Second-storey extensions allow families to gain extra bedrooms, home offices, or retreat zones—while preserving gardens, driveways, and courtyards.

Since 2020, there’s been a reported 30% rise in second-storey projects, driven by work-from-home lifestyles and smarter build techniques. Features like lightweight construction materials, natural light voids, and compact staircases make the process faster, more efficient, and less disruptive than ever.

3. Seamless Indoor–Outdoor Living

Blending indoor and outdoor zones is no longer a luxury—it’s a must-have. Inner West residents are using extensions to transform small backyards or courtyards into all-season living spaces.

In 2025, popular features include:

• Stacking or bifold glass doors
• Covered alfresco dining areas
• Outdoor kitchens and bench seating
• Sustainable decking materials
• Weatherproof lighting and ceiling fans

This approach not only supports healthier, more connected lifestyles but also improves natural ventilation and increases property value through smart, space-enhancing design.

4. Heritage Meets Modern Minimalism

Heritage homes—Federation, Edwardian, and Victorian—dominate many Inner West suburbs. But their original layouts often no longer suit modern living. The 2025 trend is to preserve the façade while introducing clean, minimalist rear extensions.

Common design solutions include:

• Glass box rear extensions
• Engineered timber and polished concrete floors
• Natural stone and timber finishes
• Sleek, open-plan kitchens

It’s important to consider heritage overlays and DA compliance, especially in conservation zones. Working with architects or designers familiar with local planning requirements can ensure the balance between preservation and innovation is handled with care.

5. Sustainable Materials & Energy Efficiency

Sustainability is at the forefront of 2025 design thinking. With NSW’s 7-star energy rating requirement for new builds and extensions, eco-friendly upgrades are no longer optional.

Homeowners are adopting:

• Double/triple-glazed windows
• Solar-ready roofing
• Recycled brick and sustainable timber
• Cross-ventilation layouts
• High R-value insulation
• Low-VOC and non-toxic finishes

These features don’t just comply with regulations—they reduce energy bills and support healthier, more resilient homes. Eco-conscious upgrades also appeal to a growing demographic of green-minded property buyers.

6. Wellness Zones & Purpose-Built Workspaces

Post-pandemic life has permanently reshaped how people use their homes. Inner West homeowners now prioritise wellness and productivity with custom-designed spaces.

Emerging trends:

• Home gyms and meditation rooms
• Biophilic elements like plants, light, and ventilation
• Soundproofed, ergonomic home offices
• Skylights and airflow enhancements
• Acoustic treatments for shared spaces

These changes promote mental clarity, physical health, and work-life balance—especially important in compact, multi-functional homes. Design is shifting from just aesthetics to supporting holistic, well-being-focused living.

Conclusion: Redefining Urban Living in the Inner West

In the Inner West, home extensions have evolved into a strategic, sustainable solution for modern challenges. From second-storey additions to space-smart layouts and energy-efficient materials, homeowners are choosing to stay in place and build better—not bigger.

Well-planned extensions are not just about adding square metres. They’re about:

• Adapting heritage homes for modern living
• Improving thermal and environmental performance
• Boosting functionality and lifestyle value
• Supporting sustainable, resilient communities

Investing in a home addition in Inner West allows you to stay in a neighbourhood you love—close to schools, parks, cafés, and transport—without the upheaval of relocating. For residents of the Inner West who love their location, embracing these trends allows for personalized upgrades without the disruption of moving. Whether you’re looking to accommodate a growing family, reduce your carbon footprint, or create a more meaningful home environment—now is the perfect time to reimagine what your space can be.

For that reason, we’ve seen a move back to the control of your digital footprint. This can be called digital amnesia, where users trigger this trend by deleting old posts, photographs, purchase histories, and more, completely out of the public eye. So let’s see why Twitter (and beyond) is getting digital amnesia so popular.

The Accumulated Baggage of Social Oversharing

When Twitter was young, there was very little frictionless sharing, and it was encouraged with no regard for longevity or consequences. Tweets were encouraged to be confessional, and posts seemed to dissipate into the ether after their brief moment in users’ feeds. The truth, though, is our tweets remain a part of the public record open for viewing and searchable as long as someone is interested in searching them. There are problematic posts that could haunt us years later, should the soundbite in a controversial quote go viral out of context.

With some perspective, many feel pangs of regret over their past Twitter commentary. As the trend to cancel culture and accountability on issues such as racial justice intensifies, more and more historical tweets are being scrutinized critically through the filter of today. No amount of growing up can remedy one lapse of judgment because they can see careers ruined, social standing obliterated, and mental health shattered beyond repair. Twitter is unable to evolve to avoid trapping users in the permanence of their past self-expressions and uninformed ideas.

As a result, the sheer volume of tweets accumulated over months and years compounds the risk of unintended damage. This explains the appeal of starting fresh through mass deletion—and for many, the decision to delete all tweets becomes not just a precaution, but an act of reclaiming agency over one’s digital narrative.

Protecting Personal Brands and Career Trajectories

For public figures like politicians and media pundits, maintaining a polished social media facade aligned with one’s current brand is paramount. Likewise, ordinary professionals realize online facades matter more as digital natives permeate industries like business, law, and academia, where reputation is currency. In these contexts, historical tweets that betray past ignorance, policy flip-flops, or controversial humor can undermine hard-won authority and respect.

Furthermore, the prevalence of background checks and employer monitoring of candidates’ internet histories during the hiring process means one’s chances of career advancement hinge partially on curating an inoffensive digital footprint. Whether because youthful commentary fails to represent current values or the risk of being taken out of context, many working professionals opt to wipe their Twitter slates clean rather than jeopardize their career trajectories over years-old posts.

Seeking Mental Clarity and Emotional Relief

For some, deleting or anonymizing years of Twitter history provides mental clarity and emotional relief more than career or reputation management. Scrolling through years of off-hand commentary, petty arguments, political rants, and other emotional outpourings may prompt feelings of regret, self-criticism, or unhealthy rumination. Hitting “delete all” can lift this mental weight and provide closure on past chapters that no longer serve users’ current mindsets or priorities.

Given Twitter’s tendency to cultivate polarized “echo chambers” around current events, wiping one’s timeline clean may also support psychological distance from stressful news cycles. Where Twitter was once an outlet for coping with collective trauma like the pandemic or political turmoil, users worn out by constant tension seek the relief of digital amnesia. Disconnecting from past perspectives reminds users they are not defined by any one moment or mindset from their online histories.

How Social Platforms Encourage Impermanence

While Twitter retains its archival nature with no built-in affordances for mass deleting content, other social platforms have shifted design priorities to align with rising user demand for impermanence, flexibility, and control over online histories.

Snapchat pioneered self-deleting content to capture authentic, unfiltered interactions less suited for permanence. Instagram and Facebook stories borrowed this ephemeral format for more casual sharing with limited audiences. TikTok goes further by algorithmically refreshing its FYP page with new trends and viral memes, discouraging attachment to any specific video, creator, or meme.

Platforms are also increasingly positioning themselves as identity toolkits for trying on different personas rather than static personal archives. On sites like Tumblr, Reddit, and Discord, anonymous usernames liberate self-expression and identity exploration without accountability to one’s offline identity. New profiles can be created at any time if users outgrow old communities or online histories they created.

Aligning with user preference for flexibility, Facebook introduced its Manage Activity page, allowing bulk deletion of old posts, reactions, comments, and other digital debris clogging up timelines. While not a deletion, Twitter was developing ephemeral tweets called “Fleets” to carve out private spaces for casual sharing without over-attachment to reactions.

Signs of a Broader Digital Minimalism Movement

Digital amnesia reflects broader cultural shifts toward minimalist lifestyles, prioritizing intentionality over endless archiving and accumulation of stuff. Where social media and e-commerce platforms once gamified hoarding purchases, likes, followers, and content in the name of optimal self-presentation, many now opt for digital decluttering to reclaim focus for what matters most.

In that spirit, startups help people clean up their digital histories by deleting old posts en masse or even removing personal info from data broker websites to reclaim privacy. Demand for online reputation management similarly helps individuals or brands bury unflattering search results under new positive content.

In essence, digital amnesia allows people to selectively curate their digital identities aligned with who they are and hope to become next. Rather than dwell on past mistakes, they refresh timelines and feeds as canvases for conscious creation.

Ethical Considerations Around Digital Amnesia

As digital amnesia gains cultural cachet, debates stir around its ethical implications:

On the one hand, the autonomy to reinvent one’s identity and evolve past youthful mistakes has long been a human right through record expunging or name changes. Digital amnesia projects extend that autonomy into our interconnected era. Platform data policies increasingly favor such impermanence, too.

Critics counter that deleting inconvenient truths hinders accountability for the powerful and enables revisionist history around serious issues like bigoted behaviors. Memory-holing past mistakes also cuts against intellectual traditions around acknowledging growth and ideological consistency.

There are also transparency concerns when public figures sanitize records once they influence voter choices or are presently shaping policies. Yet banning digital amnesia risks normalizing the permanence of past thoughts rather than their evolution.

The Future of Digital Amnesia

As the pioneers of oversharing face the consequences of information permanence, the impulse for digital amnesia will likely only spread further across social networks. Already, younger generations raised on Snapchat and TikTok approach identity-building with an ephemerality mindset that was alien to early social media settlers.

We will see more platforms facilitate starting fresh through expiration dates for old content and data portability, allowing easier migration between online communities as we outgrow old digital baggage.

However, even in an era of radical user control, the underlying internet architecture of information persistence and replication means our histories may never fully vanish. Lingering traces allow for reconciliation between forgetting and accountability when ethical lines blur too far. The push towards impermanence will co-evolve with tools to resurrect the fragments of truth when necessary.

The Pluses of Professional Movers

• Expertise and Efficiency

Professional movers have a level of expertise that far exceeds the aspect of transportation. The professionals have good experience in packing, loading, transporting, and unpacking belongings safely and in a timely manner. Using the services of a Boston moving company means you’re benefiting from years of experience in how to pack everything from fragile items to heavy sectional couches so that every item gets from one place to another in one piece. By being systematic, they reduce downtime and increase efficiency, making your move as smooth as possible.

• Safety and Insurance

The most noteworthy perks of reaching out to Boston movers is the trust and faith you have in their safety. While moving, hefty and bulky items can risk both your health and property as well. Movers are trained to move heavy loads safely and have the appropriate equipment. In addition, movers have insurance so that your belongings are covered during the transfer, and this gives you peace of mind that you are unlikely to have when transporting items on your own. This insurance is important, as it can safeguard your goods in case any unfortunate events occur while being transported.

• Cost-Effectiveness

It might sound bizarre, but hiring professional movers in Boston can be budget-friendly. Keep in mind the hidden cost of renting a moving vehicle, paying for packing materials, taking time off work, or the possibility of damage or injury if you do it all yourself. When you keep these factors in mind, the cost of hiring professionals can be a smarter move, which comes with the added benefits of expertise and efficiency. Also, plenty of companies have different packages that can be tailored to your budget and moving requirements.

Planning Your Move with a Boston Moving Company?

1.Choosing the Right Time to Move

The timing of your move can be a significant factor that affects the ease and cost of your move. Picking up a weekend or less busy time of your month can result in lower prices and more flexible scheduling options from movers in Boston. Planning ahead allows you to secure the best movers in the industry, and it can save you money as well. By planning ahead, you will also have time to go through your items and get rid of anything that you don’t need, making the whole moving process a lot easier.

2. Customized Moving Plans

Every Boston moving company understands that each move comes with a new challenge. They provide tailored planning services that can accommodate unique requirements and preferences. Whether you’re relocating into a small apartment or a big family home, they can shape their services to suit your timeline, budget, and needs. These customized plans can consist of anything from full-service packing and unpacking to storage options to make sure that all parts of your move are secured.

3. Stress-Free Experience

The most compelling reason to hire professional residential movers are that you stay stress-free, knowing the fact that every detail will be covered with ease. It gives you more exciting aspects of starting in a new home when you know you have experts who are there with you from the moment the packing begins until the last box is unpacked. This expertise allows you to skip the move’s typical traps or delays, facilitating a smoother, more pleasant transition.

4. Environmental Responsibility

Hand-picking the best Boston movers are also about hunting a partner who cares about the environment. Until recently, many movers have used eco-friendly practices such as reusable packing material and more fuel-efficient vehicles. These services are not only good for the environment, helping improve your carbon footprint, but they can also give you satisfaction in knowing that you are not doing any harm to nature on your way to a new home.

5. The Role of Technology in Modern Moving

Boston moving company today isn’t all about the physical labor; it is about planning your move specific needs. Having a technological edge can go a long way experience. From GPS tracking for your belongings to virtual consultations and digital inventory lists, technology makes the moving process more transparent, efficient, and adaptable to your individual needs. This technological edge can significantly enhance the planning and execution of your move, ensuring that everything is handled with precision.

After the Move: The Start of a New Chapter

Once the movers have departed and the boxes have been opened, the actual adventure starts. Your new environment becomes part of you with none of the residual fatigue and stress that accompanies self-managed moves. A new beginning can be so much sweeter when you don’t feel like you’ve been beaten down by the move itself. It’s a period for discovering your new environment, customizing your space, and beginning to make memories in your new house.

Stress Less, Move More – Trust Stairhopper Movers

Letting professional movers handle your move can elevate your moving experience from a nightmare to a refreshing journey. For those residing in or moving to Boston, trusting your move to the movers in Boston with overnight storage ensures that every step of your relocation will be handled with assurance, extra care and professionalism. You can be sure that your move will be smooth, efficient, and stress-free, so you can focus on settling into your new home with ease and confidence with professionals like Stairhopper Movers. We are rightly one of the excellent options for a hassle-free relocation due to our determination to render quality service and their sincere dedication towards customer satisfaction.

Use these tips to make the moving process smoother. With the right support, it can be the beginning of an exciting new chapter in your life. Leave it up to the experts, and enjoy the ride to your new residence.

By making thoughtful decisions, we can reduce our environmental impact while supporting businesses that care about sustainability. Many ways exist to identify accommodations that share our values, from energy-efficient practices to locally sourced amenities. Let’s explore how we can travel responsibly and make a positive difference, one stay at a time. For those seeking inspiration for eco-friendly travel destinations, check out these top landscape places worldwide, where nature and sustainability go hand in hand.

Importance Of Sustainable Travel

Sustainable travel is vital in mitigating tourism’s environmental impact, which is responsible for approximately 8% of global carbon emissions. Eco-friendly accommodations actively lower energy use, minimize waste and curb greenhouse gas emissions through technologies like solar panels, LED lighting, and automated energy systems. These changes significantly shrink their carbon footprint.

Choosing sustainable hotels also supports local economies. Many eco-conscious properties prioritize sourcing goods and services from local producers, boosting regional businesses, and providing guests with authentic experiences. Making eco-friendly choices promotes long-term benefits for the planet and the communities we visit.

Key Factors To Consider When Choosing Eco-Friendly Accommodations

Selecting accommodations that prioritize sustainability requires evaluating specific aspects of their operations. For example, if you are looking to book vacation rental in Chicago, focusing on certifications, resource conservation, and waste management makes it easier to ensure your stay aligns with eco-friendly principles.

Green Certifications And Labels

Hotels and rentals with third-party certifications like LEED or other eco-labels demonstrate commitment to sustainability. These certifications verify efforts in energy efficiency, water conservation, waste reduction, and eco-friendly products. Properties meeting these standards are credible choices for environmentally conscious travelers.

Energy And Water Conservation Practices

Eco-friendly accommodations adopt renewable energy sources like solar panels and wind turbines. They also use energy-efficient lighting, such as LED bulbs, reducing electricity consumption. Many properties feature water-saving systems like low-flow faucets and showers, ensuring minimal resource wastage.

Waste Management Programs

Sustainable properties integrate robust waste management strategies, including thorough recycling and composting practices. Some even eliminate single-use plastics in favor of biodegradable alternatives. These efforts reduce the environmental footprint while supporting global sustainability goals.

Supporting Local Communities Through Your Stay

Choosing accommodations that prioritize the well-being of local communities makes a significant impact. This approach ensures that travel positively contributes to our destinations’ economic and social fabric.

Locally Owned Hotels And Rentals

Staying in locally owned hotels and rentals directly supports the local economy. Unlike large chain hotels, these accommodations often reinvest in the community by sourcing goods and services from local businesses. Owners are usually more engaged in local environmental preservation efforts, ensuring tourism benefits visitors and residents. For instance, a locally owned eco-lodge might use traditional building materials while employing members of the surrounding community.

Community-Focused Initiatives

Accommodations with community-focused initiatives demonstrate their dedication to giving back. These may include partnering with local tour operators who promote eco-friendly activities, sponsoring cultural events, or donating to community projects. Some hotels rent bicycles to reduce transportation emissions, while others collaborate with local artisans to provide guests with authentic experiences. By choosing these establishments, we help foster sustainable tourism that uplifts local communities and preserves their heritage.

Eco-Friendly Amenities To Look For

Sustainable travel begins with choosing accommodations that adopt eco-friendly practices. Hotels and rentals offering renewable energy, non-toxic cleaning products, and locally sourced food options significantly reduce environmental footprints.

Renewable Energy Sources

Properties powered by renewable energy, such as solar or wind, help reduce reliance on fossil fuels. For instance, hotels using solar panels or geothermal systems lower carbon emissions and maintain energy efficiency.

Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

Cleaners made from non-toxic, biodegradable ingredients protect guests and the environment. Hotels prioritizing these products prevent harmful chemicals from polluting water systems while ensuring safer indoor air quality.

Locally Sourced Food Options

Accommodations that feature menus with local ingredients support sustainable practices. Properties sourcing food locally reduce transportation emissions while promoting regional farmers and decreasing dependence on non-local supply chains.

Questions To Ask Before Booking

Choosing eco-friendly accommodations begins with asking the right questions. Understanding a property’s sustainability measures ensures your stay aligns with responsible tourism principles.

Environmental Policies In Place

It’s essential to verify whether accommodations practice sustainable operations. Check for energy-efficient technologies, such as LED lighting or renewable energy use. Ask about water conservation efforts, including low-flow fixtures, greywater recycling, or a commitment to minimizing water waste. Properties highlighting such measures often display environmental policies on their websites or provide evidence of compliance during inquiries.

Support For Sustainable Tourism Efforts

Explore how properties contribute to sustainable tourism in their regions. Ask if they source products locally, such as food and building materials, to reduce their carbon footprint and boost the local economy. Inquire about eliminating single-use plastics or partnerships supporting local environmental initiatives. Accommodations aligned with sustainability principles often share these efforts openly, showing dedication to positive community and ecological impact.

Conclusion

Sustainable travel starts with our choices, and selecting eco-friendly accommodations is a powerful way to reduce our environmental footprint. We can align our travels with our values by prioritizing properties that embrace renewable energy, resource conservation, and community support.

Every decision matters, from the certifications we look for to the questions we ask before booking. Together, we can foster a more sustainable tourism industry that protects the planet and uplifts local communities for generations.

The year 2020 will be remembered as a year in which humanity weathered a dangerous and fast-spreading disease, costing companies and governments billions in management and recovery. Many economic sectors had slowed down or shuttered entirely due to lowered demand and health measures. Large swaths of the population lost their jobs and relied on governmental assistance to survive. The damages caused by the disease are not only economic and physical but also environmental. Indeed, while some control measures have mitigated environmental harm, others have exacerbated it. Over the coming months and years, it will be crucial to recover in a way that is economically and environmentally sustainable.

Effects on Ecological Factors

While the global economic slowdown reduced major drivers of climate change around the world, the true picture of the pandemic’s effect on our planet’s resources and ecological health is somewhat more nuanced. Throughout the first few months of the pandemic, lockdowns throughout the planet’s major economic powerhouses had rippling effects on emissions of major GHGs (greenhouse gases): in Europe, for instance, the EEA (European environmental agency) found that Nitrogen Dioxide emissions had reduced by 30-60% in March 2020 from the same time the year prior in many major European cities (Upmanis, 2020). While Nitrogen Dioxide is primarily produced by cars(EPA USA, 2016), other pollutants like Carbon Dioxide were on the fall too, with reduced global air travel reducing Carbon Dioxide emissions in the US by 17% (Zogopoulos, 2021). However, not all outcomes have been positive. With the meteoric rise of disposable PPE usage, both medical and non-medical, waste disposal has been a significant ecological issue in some parts of the world, notably in India (Kumar et al., 2020). Researchers further found that with current inventories, PPE bodysuits and gloves have a high potential for global warming, and the metal strips used in facemasks have a potentially high risk to human health.

Figure 1. Positive and Negative Impacts of the Pandemic on the Environment

Source:Rume, T. and Islam, S., 2020

A Closer Look: Work from Home

As most modern office workers can attest to, the past year has been characterized by a significant shift to remote routines. Individuals who would regularly commute to the office, often individually in their automobiles, have quickly transitioned to technologies like video meetings, cloud-based software and a litany of other collaboration tools. As mentioned, emissions of Nitrogen Dioxide fell dramatically throughout the pandemic: it is theorized that this was largely due to the reduction of regular automobile commutes(Turits, 2020). WSP, a London-based engineering consulting firm, conducted a study regarding the actual footprint of this work-from-home alternative (WSP, 2020). By considering both the impacts of the commute of the average employee, of whom 65% travel by car, and of the employee’s home heating system, the firm found that in some cases remote work could increase the employee’s carbon emissions by nearly 70%. Notably, an employee heating their entire home during regular working hours would emit significantly more GHGs than one who only heated their office. However, in the summer months, where building heating was not required, the study suggests that workers may save significant emissions by avoiding their daily commute. While this study was localized to the UK, and some factors may not apply elsewhere (such as the need for air conditioning), this provides valuable insight for companies to consider once sanitary measures do not require employees to work from home.

Figure 2. Work-from-home Emissions

Source:WSP, 2020

 The Role of Global Economies

Clearly, by most accounts the world now finds itself at a crossroads; with economies globally beginning to kick back into some level of activity, and with most of the developing world likely having the potential to return to normal levels by the end of this year, there is a unique opportunity to take a great “green” stride. Some nations, indeed, have taken steps towards this during the pandemic; the European Green Deal, proposed in 2019, will take significant consideration of renewable energy and carbon reduction in the implementation of monetary recovery instruments (OECD, 2020). Similarly, South Korea’s Green New Deal commits billions of US dollars to boosting their renewable energy capacity and began in the early days of COVID in July 2020. Inertia, in the industrial and market sense, is an important factor for governments to shape policy; with a restart of action in various sectors, the possibility to begin and maintain inertia with the development and commissioning of new green power plants and industrial processes, as well as sustainable urban development, is at an all-time high.

Figure 3. Strategies for Environment Sustainability

Source:Rume, T. and Islam, S., 2020

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