It’s time to think about the environment when you go online shopping

To jumpstart the SUSTAINABLE CONSUMER series, I first want rant about something that happened this past Christmas. Instead of constantly listening to my favourite NPR podcasts or wasting my minutes on transit farting around on my newly purchased Spotify Premium, I decided to buy books, non-fiction books (I know, so unlike me). This was and still is, my attempt in actually taking charge of my adulthood and becoming more motivated to start learning and reading some God-given advice from proclaimed New York Times Bestseller authors and iconic leaders (highly recommend). After much online browsing and research, I narrowed my basket to four books, and boy was I excited when Indigo popped up in my inbox declaring shipment within the week. Four days later, I get a call from my concierge that a package has arrived. Extremely eager with my new purchases, I open the package in the lift and was disappointed to find only 2 books. Few days later, another one came, and by the end of the week, the last book came. Happy as I may be to have received all my orders, frustrated was really how I felt to see my four books come in a total of three cardboard boxes, of which could’ve easily been shipped all together in ONE box. So why did this happen? Is there an option for me as a consumer to get all my books delivered together in a single box? Can we make shipping more sustainable?

A video a friend recently sent to me discusses the true cost of 2-day shipping. While we may just see this as a happy convenience, there are environmental implications behind the distribution that we as consumers must start to realize. We must learn to see our consumeristic actions in a bigger picture, not just through the inner circle of browse-buy-receive, repeat. According to the video, 79% of Americans shop online, whether in bed or having a drink, and did you know 1 in 5 Americans shop online while using the bathroom?A nice loo break to go buy your Prom dress. Exciting. But this just shows how unaware we are of the bigger picture when we shop online. All we’re thinking about is our screen, the product, and ourselves. But what effect does all this online shopping have on our planet?

Two major issues that make online shopping detrimental to our environment is: 1) rush delivery and 2) returns. Although online shopping does generate a smaller carbon footprint on our planet, it’s only better, according to the video, if we don’t get rush delivery. With faster delivery, that means more trucks on the road getting our product to our front door, causing more greenhouse gas emissions. Plus, because of these quick deadlines, trucks are being sent half-full of products. If delivery was not rushed, trucks could efficiently fill up and deliver more products in one run. Another problem is returns. Companies are aware that we love reliable, fast, and most importantly, FREE returns, because sometimes those pants might not fit you the right way. With this option, customers have the ability to try something without having to physically go to the store, and return it with ultimately no cost. But that’s not quite the case. With every return and purchase, the delivery trucks are driving back and forth, back and forth just to find the right size for me.

So, is there a solution in making shipping more sustainable?

Today’s solution is about keeping traffic moving along, as told in the video, such as Wi-Fi traffic lights that let’s truck drivers know ahead of time when the lights will turn red – “this cuts down on idling at the lights and wasting fuel.” Matt Barth, director of CE-CERT, is looking at ways trucks can reduce their transit footprint, believing this traffic light technology can “essentially smooth out your pattern of travel, and when you smooth out your travel pattern, you get those fueling benefits…you can save 15-20% fuel by doing those types of activities.” The video also mentions another solution called truck platooning, of which you can read more about here.

These are ways companies themselves are trying to limit their carbon footprint, but what if companies could instead, entice a change in customer behaviour? Such as getting consumers to be more aware of how they shop online. Now it’s about both companies AND consumers becoming more responsible. 

It’s not hard to think about the bigger picture, and to acknowledge all the parties who might be involved in the process of you receiving a product, or me with my books. It might be an extra step to expand our thinking while shopping, but an effort that, at the end of the day, needs to be done. Which begs the question, why is it so hard for us to think in that mindset? Are we just scared because we know the actual consequences but we don’t want to think about it, otherwise it becomes real? It’s like self-censorship. Do you censor yourself and how can it be changed? Should it be changed?

We are a society that is encouraged to acquire goods, fueled with the sensation of always wanting more. Breaking it down to its core, we live life as consumers every day, whether it be consuming necessities like food or luxuries like clothes. But with each consumption, we’re also taking a bite into our planet that has consequences we may or may not be completely aware of. Being aware of what’s happening not just at the forefront, but the back-end as well, helps us become smarter consumers, and choosing the more sustainable action to take, makes us better consumers. How else can we become better consumers?

Note: After a bit more research, it can be understood that my books were available at different Indigo stores, hence each store delivered according to their availability with my order. This brings up the question on whether or not this way of having stores deliver separately to be better for the environment, or if one store shipped my book to a designated store, of who will then ship all 4 of my books at once. Or maybe it returns back to the discussion of rush delivery – because trucks were racing against the clock to get shipments out, while someone might’ve been looking for my other books, they only had time to ship the first two, unable to leverage the full capacity of their truck space. The video brings up an interesting concept: a “Green Option” for shipping, where consumers can choose to have their products shipped to them in the most energy efficient way possible by the company. It might take longer, but then it’s up to whether or not the consumer is willing to wait that long. Which brings up the question of: how much of a consumer’s values effect their purchase decisions? And how strong is their “sustainability” value, if they even have one? ‘Til next post.

 

SOURCES: