The environmental benefits of freelancing

Here is an interesting post from the blog “Masked Translator,” focusing on the ways in which home-based translation is an exceedingly environmentally-friendly job. Masked Translator makes a number of great points, including a separation between true home-based workers and “home-based” workers whose carbon footprint is actually quite large because they travel from home to work-related appointments which necessitate a professional wardrobe, reliable/presentable car, fuel use, etc.

This post highlighted to me the ways in which home-based translators (and in general, people who work exclusively from home) live an “environmentally light” life. In our case, the fact that my husband and I both work from home in jobs that don’t require travel has allowed us to have one 17 year old car since we can bike and walk almost everywhere we need to go during the week. Because we’re home most of the time, we have time to cook real meals and have a large vegetable garden, so we almost never eat out. Work clothes are almost a non-issue, with a few presentable outfits (largely purchased at the local thrift store) for meetings and conferences. Check out Masked Translator’s post for more ideas on how to reduce your freelance carbon footprint!