A four-day workweek could help lower carbon emissions, experts say

Advocates say the work model could lower transportation emissions and the need to heat and cool office buildings.

By Lynnea Domienik
traffic
In this March 31, 2021,photo, traffic flows along Interstate 90 highway as a Metra suburban commuter train moves along an elevated track in Chicago. Shafkat Anowar / AP Photo
traffic
In this March 31, 2021,photo, traffic flows along Interstate 90 highway as a Metra suburban commuter train moves along an elevated track in Chicago. Shafkat Anowar / AP Photo

A four-day workweek could help lower carbon emissions, experts say

Advocates say the work model could lower transportation emissions and the need to heat and cool office buildings.

By Lynnea Domienik
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Studies have shown a connection between working fewer hours and lower carbon emissions. But experts say the environmental benefits of a shorter workweek depend on how people spend their time when they’re not on the job.

Reset learns more about how shifting to a four-day workweek could help the environment.

GUESTS: Juliet Schor, economist and sociologist at Boston College; author of The Overworked AmericanAllyson Chiu, climate solutions reporter at The Washington Post