The number of people shopping online has grown in recent years as Internet access has reached every corner of the world. In 2018, there were an estimated 1.8 billion online consumers. This figure has skyrocketed with the pandemic and mobility restrictions.
According to data from Statista, the online statistics portal, revenues in the e-commerce market are expected to reach an annual growth rate of 8.2%, with a market volume of 2,922,095 million euros by 2024. Además, indica que en 2024 las compras digitales serán el 60,3% (ahora son el 46,6%).
Consumer habits have changed rapidly and although the figures are very positive for e-commerce, the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) warns about the consequences of this new way of shopping for the environment, due to the sustainability problems that it entails.
According to the Greenpeace report, online shopping can generate a smaller carbon footprint than traditional in-store shopping due to more efficient logistics. However, the type of vehicle used in transportation, poor practices and a number of other considerations complicate the environmental impact of e-commerce.
THE IMPACT OF ONLINE SHOPPING
Shopping whenever and wherever you want has its consequences. Here are some of them.
1. Pollutant emissions
The products we purchase online need to be transported to our home. The airplane, the boat and/or the van, until we have it in our hands. All of them produce CO2 emissions and other pollutants, such as NOx or fine particles.
2. Immediate delivery
Some companies have the option of immediate delivery, even for same-day delivery. In these cases the priority is speed and meeting the delivery deadline, so often the delivery is made with the vehicle without being fully loaded. More vehicles end up circulating without being load optimized, leaving a huge carbon footprint. In fact, fast delivery requires three times more energy than traditional delivery.
3. Excess waste
Cardboard packaging, plastics, papers that wrap the product of online purchases and other materials used, such as packaging, end up as waste. According to a report released by Greenpeace China, Break Free from Plastic and the China Environment Federation, in 2019 packaging materials reached 9.4 million tons. In addition, it is added that many times these same materials are not used for returns, they are bought back, generating more waste.
4. Packaging
In addition to packaging, some companies often introduce decorative or eye-catching elements in online purchases to represent their brand and make it more attractive to the consumer. Brands also use this strategy in case it is shared on social networks. All of these materials add other materials to the order that end up generating more waste.
5. Returns
One facility that companies provide us with online shopping is free returns that, although it does not involve any cost for the person who consumes, it is not free for the environment. It involves another trip by vehicle to pick up and/or take the order back to the warehouse, in addition to producing more waste (if you do not use the same one you received it with).
MORE RESPONSIBLE ONLINE SHOPPING
On the company side
Improvements in packaging and shipping policies:
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- Tighter sizes, adapted to the content.
- Contain no unnecessary materials.
- Contain filler only when necessary, as in fragile products.
- All materials should be easily recyclable.
More optimized deliveries:
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- Group orders by destination.
- Vehicles with full loads and not half loads.
- Enable pick-up points.
- Deliveries by sustainable means whenever possible.
On the consumer side
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- Avoid compulsive online shopping.
- If possible, prioritize local purchases.
- Make sure that the order is picked up by someone and that it is not a failed delivery that implies another trip.
- Leave urgent deliveries for only when they are really urgent.
- Avoid attempted returns.
- Reuse the original packaging for the return.