East SideA Happier, Greener Workweek
Image from Time magazine
Reading Grist this week, I came across a link to a Johann Hari’s piece in the UK’s Independent about how Utah’s 4 day government employee work week is spreading like wildfire in Europe and some large companies. Utah’s experiment with the 4 day work week was started to help close a budget gap in the state’s finances, but had unexpected benefits:
The people of one of the most conservative states in the US have stumbled across a simple policy that slashes greenhouse gas emissions by 13 percent, saves huge sums of money, improves public services, cuts traffic congestion, and makes 82 per cent of workers happier.
While many may think that the environmental movement is just a bunch of spoil sports asking people to only sacrifice their high carbon lifestyle, it’s important to remember this as an example where less pollution equals more happiness.
