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In the previous article, we showed you that online learning is an excellent means of minimizing air pollution.
Another way in which online learning helps protect the environment is through the use of digital learning materials, such as virtual textbooks and virtual books, online classrooms, etc. These are all tools that help conduct eco-friendly training, as they reduce paper use and energy consumption.
The concept of the „Paperless office” gained popularity a few years ago. The goal is to reduce and gradually eliminate the use of paper documents in offices. No matter how much effort is put into this direction, statistics continue to show high values:
- 90% of the information about a company is contained in documents;
- 85% of business documents are in paper form;
- The paper consumed by a medium-sized business increases by 22% annually;
- On average, for the training of one office worker, around 10,000 sheets of paper are used annually. This figure may seem exaggerated to you, but if we add the paper used for training materials to the paper books and handbooks, the figure can become even higher.
Distance learning completely eliminates the need for printed materials or other physical learning materials used in traditional classroom training. To help you visualize the amount of paper used annually for training, we will tell you that it is enough to build a wall from New York to California, 12 feet high. By using online learning, companies significantly reduce the unnecessary use of paper.
In addition, printing leads to the consumption of a troubling 350 million toners annually, which are eventually thrown away in landfills.
In addition to saving paper, distance learning also saves electricity for lighting the rooms, powering computers and other devices, as well as heating during the winter. A study by the Open University of Britain, which we mentioned in the previous article as well, shows that for online learning, for just one learner, 90% less energy is used compared to classroom training.
As you can see for yourself, conducting online training can be not only financially beneficial, but also eco-friendly. Of course, e-learning does not completely eliminate the effects harmful to the environment, but it significantly reduces them.
