Reducing CO2 emissions not only conserves the environment but also saves your company money. In personnel development, there is a lot of potential: Read in the article about simple ways to make further education more climate-friendly.
Whether through increased environmental awareness or rising CO2 taxes: Companies want to save more CO2 than ever and improve their ecological balance as a result. In some areas, a lot is already being done, for example, in the active CO2 reduction in industrial processes or the transition from company cars to company bicycles or job tickets.
The Corona pandemic has also made it clear where additional savings potential lies: In home office! Hybrid work models can save 12.2 megatons of CO2 annually. Each German employee in a home office saves up to 700 kg of CO2 annually due to eliminated commuting times and digital data storage. This is equivalent to five flights from Berlin to London.
A clear sign to look not only in everyday work but also in the further training of employees for climate-friendly concepts. After all, in 2019 alone, over 7.4 million people participated in professional training. There is therefore a huge CO2 saving potential for companies.
Designing further education in an environmentally friendly and efficient way can be achieved with a few simple adjustments:
Saving CO2 by using less paper in further education
One single sheet of printing paper produces 5g of CO2. That sounds like a small amount, but: Mass matters! In many training measures, traditional handouts, questionnaires, or textbooks are still used – that adds up to a lot of paper!
Let's assume that each of the 7.4 million training participants received 5 sheets of paper, some more, some less. That makes 37 million sheets! This already results in training producing 185 million grams of CO2, which means 185,000 kg of CO2 just from paper - and also generates a significant amount of paper waste.
Tip 1: Switch from traditional office paper to recycled paper. This saves about 30% of CO2 for training materials. Additionally, investing in duplex printers that print on both sides of the paper pays off – savings: another 50%. Additionally, you should avoid pretty plastic covers for training manuals (less plastic is always better!)
Overview: This is how much CO2 paper consumes according to the sustainability calculator / Own representation
Tip 2: Switch to digital training materials. “No paper at all” reduces this item by 100%, avoids waste, and also saves employees both carrying and searching for paper documents.
Documents in PDF or Word format can easily be sent via email. The excuse “only in paper form does everyone really get it!” is outdated: Since 95% of 25 to 44-year-olds use emails, emails are now an extremely reliable way to reach employees and training participants. And let’s be honest: How often have you looked at the handout after a training?
Of course, the production and use of devices also produce CO2. For a laptop, this averages around 250 kg of CO2. However, several million pages can be stored on a hard drive, or you can store them centrally in a cloud. And a laptop lasts on average up to five years. Additionally, most individuals already own a device. Only in very few cases do new devices need to be purchased for digital training materials. So, in the long term, it’s a significant saving.
Saving CO2 by traveling less for training
Tip 1: Hybrid work models save CO2 – hybrid learning models do too! Hybrid learning and blended learning reduce CO2 simply by needing fewer training participants to travel for a training.
In hybrid models, training takes place both digitally and on-site, allowing participants and companies to decide for themselves whether the trip and the high CO2 emissions are worth it. Blended learning specifically shifts learning content that learners can work on alone into online courses. Depending on the implementation, you can reduce travel by 20% to 90%.
Comparison: Blended Learning and Hybrid Learning reduce on-site times and CO2-intensive travels for training. / Own representation
Tip 2: Are travels for training unavoidable? You can also save CO2 here by using well-known methods: Avoid having participants travel individually by car (152 g CO2 / km). Instead, focus on the train (50-80 g CO2 / km) or carpooling. We probably don’t even need to start discussing short-haul flights.
For large groups of employees, for example, for mandatory regular company training, a coach can also be worthwhile (36 g CO2 / km).
Conclusion: Companies can significantly improve their CO2 balance in training!
In summary, there are 4 ways to simply save CO2 in corporate training and education. This way, you can reduce costs as well as increase environmental friendliness:
Use recycled paper, print necessary documents double-sided, or switch to digital learning materials.
Use hybrid or blended learning formats to reduce on-site times. Choose CO2-efficient vehicles for necessary travels.
CO2 potential of E-Learning: No paper, no travels
The greatest potential for the future, with a pure focus on the CO2 balance, likely lies in E-Learning. In strictly digital training, no paper is needed, as all materials are provided in online courses. In combination with webinars or personal support via video conferencing tools like Zoom, travel times can also be completely eliminated.
Many companies are already using home office and E-Learning due to the pandemic situation. However, the CO2 balance strongly supports the continuation of this trend. And initial findings in the general sustainability debate show: Distance learning is the most sustainable form of education!
A “perfect zero balance” will not be achieved by E-Learning in companies either: The production of computers and the generation of electricity still produce CO2. However, digitizing further education is a big step in the right direction: Achieving the best possible environmental friendliness in companies!
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