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A comment on Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environment initiative?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environ... by opportune on Monday November 21, 2022 @12:18PM (#33695100)
In my experiencing greenwashing is just as likely to be used to shame normal consumer behavior into reducing costs for businesses (do you really want those plastic utensils with your takeout? Do you really need to use that much water in your hotel room? Do you really need fresh towels every day?) as it is to actually help the environment.

Most of the time corporations claim to be doing something in a carbon-neutral way it's because they are purchasing offsets where you just have to believe that they are actually computing the carbon costs appropriately and the offsets are "real" anyway.

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Re:Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environ... by antifa on Monday November 21, 2022 @12:42PM (#33695447)
> do you really want those plastic utensils with your takeout?

There's a place where I always uncheck "include utensils" and they always give me 8 people's worth of them anyways.

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Re:Ask HN: Why isn't remote work advertised as a pro environ... by kmacdough on Monday November 21, 2022 @12:45PM (#33695478)
At its core, "reduce" generally benefits both the environment and the bottom line. Additionally, many employees wish their company was more environmental, but cannot make their case unless it aligns with the business.

A slight rewording of your point highlights the opportunity: change happens when business and environmental needs align. This means, the people's best (only) play is to craft policies and institutions that align business incentives with environmental goals (e.g. emission cap 'n trade, grants, etc.). For example, a central repository of public holistic impact assessments could force PR teams to focus on real impact over trivial greenwashing campaigns.

While the national level gets the most focus, local/state governments can move move faster and serve as models for larger change.

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