How does online training help the environment? - Part II

Approximate reading time: 1m 15s

In the previous article, we showed you that online training is an excellent tool to minimize air pollution.

Another way in which online training helps protect the environment is through the use of digital training materials, such as virtual textbooks and virtual books, online classrooms, etc. These are all tools that help to deliver eco-friendly training as they reduce paper usage and energy consumption.

The Paperless office concept gained popularity a few years ago. The aim is to reduce and phase out the use of paper documents in offices. No matter how many efforts are made in this direction, statistics continue to show high figures:

• 90% of a company's information is contained in documents;
• 85% of business documents are in paper form;
• Paper consumed by a medium-sized business is increasing by 22% per year;
• On average, about 10,000 sheets of paper are used per year to train an office worker. This figure may seem exaggerated, but if we add paper books and teaching aids to the paper used for teaching materials, the figure could be even higher.

Distance learning completely eliminates the need for printed materials or other physical learning materials that are used in traditional classroom learning. To help you visualize the amount of paper used annually for training, we'll tell you that it's enough to build a 12-foot-high wall from New York to California. By using online training, companies are significantly reducing unnecessary paper usage.
In addition, printing results in the consumption of an alarming 350 million toners per year, which end up in landfills.

In addition to saving paper, distance learning also saves electricity for lighting rooms, powering computers and other devices, and heating in winter. A study by the British Free University, which we mentioned to you in the last article, shows that online learning, for just one learner, uses 90% less energy than classroom learning.

As you can see for yourself, conducting online training can not only be financially beneficial, but also environmentally friendly. Of course, e-learning does not completely eliminate the effects that harm the environment, but it does significantly reduce them.