Written by: Mehek C.
Visual by: Erica N.
With the beginning of another year of online school, many students are finding it difficult to stay motivated to continue with school work and look at the positive side of life. While online school may have some negative aspects, we often forget that it can have some positive aspects as well. With transportation, energy, and paper usage lessened and even eliminated, the environment and the Earth’s ecosystems are benefiting from the shut down of physical schools.
Since everyone is participating in classes from the comfort of their own homes, this removes the need for transportation to and from the school building. Transportation is a big contributor to the global climate crisis; in fact transportation as a whole accounts for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. One study done by the University of West Georgia found that carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by up to 10 tons for every 100 students who did not travel to school every semester. Another study from Stockholm Environmental Institute (SEI) found that an average full-time physical school student created around 180 pounds of CO2 emissions compared to only 4 pounds for an online student.
With everyone attending classes from their homes, this means that the actual school building itself is not being used. Buildings utilize a lot of resources and power for things like heat and energy to be fully operational. Typical US higher education buildings of approximately 50,000 square feet consume the equivalent of $100,000 worth of energy each year. Many of the older college campuses can’t make the necessary updates to save more energy, leading them to continue creating this big carbon footprint. Energy consumption for students in a physical classroom creates a CO2 equivalent of over 220 pounds, compared to only 10 pounds per online student. The U.K.'s Open University Design Innovation Group (DIG) found that online learning utilizes up to 90% less energy compared to traditional classrooms.
Lastly, with the majority of students using online resources to complete schoolwork, this means that paper consumption has decreased significantly. Deforestation is a serious issue around the globe. To supply every school and office in America, around 55 to 110 million trees are cut down each year. According to the National Wildlife Foundation, 60% of a school’s waste is paper. The worst part about it is that even if the majority of paper thrown away is recyclable, nearly half of it is thrown into landfills. With assignments, tests, and projects all being distributed digitally, this makes online school a great way to save paper.
While online school may have a lot of negative attributes that make it harder for students to continue to stay motivated, one positive attribute that many often forget is that global ecosystems are benefiting from this shutdown of physical schools. The lack of daily transport has lowered carbon dioxide emissions, attending classes from the comfort of one’s own home has allowed physical campuses to lower their energy uses, and the use of digital resources instead of physical ones has helped lower the amount of paper used by students. All of these benefits have allowed the ecosystem to improve its wellbeing and set us on the course to take care of and improve our Earth.
Works Cited
Business Energy Advisor, esource.bizenergyadvisor.com/article/colleges-and-universities.
Contributor, 3p. “4 Unsung Environmental Benefits of Online Education.” TriplePundit, 14 May 2015, www.triplepundit.com/story/2015/4-unsung-environmental-benefits-online-education/35151.
“Distance Learning Is Good for the Environment: Savings in Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, University of West Georgia Distance and Distributed Education Center, www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter144/campbell_campell144.html.
“Error.” National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.org/Eco-Schools-USA/Become-an-Eco-School/Pathways/Consumption-and-Waste/Facts.aspx.
Global, CSU. “Environmental Benefits of Online Education.” The Official Blog of CSU Global, The Official Blog of CSU Global, 23 Apr. 2020, csuglobal.edu/blog/environmental-benefits-of-online-education.
Roy, Robin, et al. “Designing Low Carbon Higher Education Systems.” International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 9, no. 2, 2008, pp. 116–130., doi:10.1108/14676370810856279.
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