quick wins for a greener workday

Tomorrow is World Environment Day. This year, the World Environment Day events will be held in South Korea, with a particular focus on plastic pollution.

Between work, family, friends, and everything else on your plate, saving the planet might not always be top of mind. But we’ve rounded up a few easy, low-effort ways to go greener — starting tomorrow.

1. commute cuter

Go green for 1 commute this week. It could be to work, a workout class, anything. Try public transport, biking, or walking instead of driving. If you’re in a city, public bikes are super convenient. Not an option for your setup? Consider carpooling. My dad used to carpool once a week with coworkers and loved the casual catch-ups before the workday. Bonus: new work besties!

2. find your new fave plant-based lunch spot or recipe

The meat industry is responsible for almost 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions. You don’t need to go full vegan or vegetarian; just consider one meat-free meal a week. Who knows, you might even discover your new fixation meal.

3. support local

Go to a coffee shop that imports locally farmed beans. Suggest a farm-to-table restaurant for your next friend group dinner. Sub in one local product a week — like bread from the neighborhood bakery or produce from the farmer’s market. Your reward: yummy local sweet treats AND a reduced carbon footprint!

4. write 1 email without using chatgpt

200 million ChatGPT requests are made each day, which uses up half a million kilowatt-hours of electricity. I’m no scientist, but that sounds like a lot. Use that big brilliant brain of yours to draft just 1 email, and it will add up.

I like how Very Smart Person™ Vijay Gadepally said it: “We're doing billions of these things a day. So even a small change, when you multiply it by the number of times we're doing it, can be quite large.”

As Always, K