Why Online Learning is Greener and How it Benefits You

You’re probably familiar with the benefits that distance learning offers, including flexibility and convenience. But you might not have thought about the fact that going to school online also reduces your carbon footprint. In addition, it can save you a lot of money.

Paying for an Online Degree

You shouldn’t ignore the environmental impact of choosing distance learning over in-person classes. That can help you be a more responsible student. Your budget is also more likely to accommodate online coursework. But that doesn’t necessarily be able to completely pay for school out of pocket. Tuition costs continue to rise. That’s why many students choose to take out loans for school. Federal loans are a good starting point because you don’t need a co-signer or a credit history. But you might max those out and still need funds. The good news is that if you want to do it on your own, you can take out private student loans without a co-signer. Although you may get a higher interest rate on them now, you can consider refinancing in the future.

Reducing Emissions

When you take online classes, you’ll likely spend more time at home. That means you won’t be using as much gas to commute to campus, so you can limit your use of nonrenewable resources. Of course, that can also save you quite a bit of money, depending on how far away from campus you live. Since you won’t be in your car as much, you will not put as much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. For every student that chooses distance learning, that keeps one more car off the road. When it comes to online classes, you may be worried about losing the human connection. But more schools are addressing this using technology. Video chat is being used more often, and some colleges are experimenting with other learning tools. And since you won’t be spending as many hours in class, you might have more time to hang out with friends between homework assignments.

Saving Natural Resources

e-learning Besides saving money on gas, you’ll use fewer natural resources in general when you choose online classes. Much of these savings are because not as much energy is being used to heat or cool a classroom. But the more students who choose distance learning, the fewer building materials, such as wood, plastic, and metal, are used. That’s a great way to save trees. But that’s not the only way that online learning saves trees. When you aren’t in a classroom setting, you’re more likely to get digital textbooks, curriculum, assignments, and other materials. In many cases, these digital resources are not as expensive as paper ones. When textbooks already come at a premium for students, these savings can make a big difference. You’ll turn in your assignments digitally, which means you won’t be spending as much money on printing costs. That also helps protect the environment because it reduces waste caused by producing and disposing of ink cartridges. Unlike paper products, plastic ink cartridges won’t decompose right away.