Beyond Earth Day: How to Cut the Carbon Footprint of Online Shopping

Earth Day is the perfect time to reset your environmental efforts and look to reduce your energy consumption. Everyday activities add up — even the impact of online shopping can add to the equation. Looking at your carbon footprint and how to reduce it starts with small efforts. With consistent green practices, you can make a difference for future generations. 

How Can Online Shopping’s Environmental Impact Be Lessened?

Modern technology ties people to their mobile devices and computers. Ordering groceries and having them arrive as you get home from a busy day at work is convenient. The savings that come from avoiding impulse purchases alone make the practice worth it. However, every time you go online, you risk your eco impact increasing. 

Much of the issue with e-commerce and the environment comes from using additional packaging and the logistics of transporting goods to each buyer. Fortunately, you can take numerous simple steps to cut the carbon footprint of digital activities, like shopping.

Place One Large Order

One thing you can do to reduce the impact of shipping items to your home is to wait until you need numerous items and place a single order. Rather than shipping multiple boxes, the retailer can place all the items in a larger box and use fewer packing materials. You’ll also save on carbon emissions from the vehicle delivering your items by reducing the amount to a single trip. 

On a lesser scale, every time you call up a company’s databases, you’ll use energy from their servers and your home computer. Reducing how frequently you access the site makes a minimal impact on being greener, but if many people do the same, it all adds up.

Look for Green Warehouses

Seek companies with a commitment to being green or going to zero carbon output. Some ways they might create a more sustainable business model include using recycled packaging, adding solar energy to their buildings and tapping into new equipment, like electric forklifts. Since electric forklifts have zero emissions, they can save around 7 metric tons of CO2 over diesel engines annually.

Embrace Green Reverse Logistics

Think through each purchase carefully to prevent environmentally costly returns. When you return items, all the environmental cost happens in reverse, doubling the impact. Eliminate returns by reading product descriptions carefully. Pay attention to sizing charts, take measurements and read reviews to see if clothing fits true to size.

You can also choose to shop with companies that minimize the impact of returns. For example, the company might have you donate the item to a local charity rather than send it back in. This reduces the carbon footprint by eliminating the transportation and packaging toll. It also minimizes pollution from manufacturing because the item will be given a second life from the thrift store. 

Other ways companies invest in green reverse logistics are by refurbishing items, recycling parts and disposing of unrepairable items in environmentally safe ways. If the online retailer has a plan for how to handle returns and embrace sustainability, shopping with them makes a difference in carbon output. 

Shop Local

Avoid the impact of deliveries by venturing to local retailers. Shopping locally can expand to finding options for products and food grown close to home. Doing so further reduces the carbon emissions from getting the item to the store.

When you shop online, you pay the environmental costs twice. First, the manufacturer ships the item to the retailer and then the retailer to you. When you shop in person, you skip the final step and the manufacturer ships the item, but then you buy directly from the store. 

Returns are also more environmentally friendly when you shop locally. Rather than consuming packing materials and fuel to deliver the item back to the store, you go a few miles to initiate the return. You can combine errands, carpool or walk to local stores to further reduce the impact of consumerism on the earth. 

Select a Digital Option

Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is by purchasing digital products when they are available. For example, rather than ordering a large package of party invitations, invest in a digital file and print only the ones you absolutely must mail. Send an electronic invite to anyone on your mailing list who is tech-savvy.

Rather than buying a paperback copy of your favorite author’s new book, choose the e-book version to save on paper and the impact of shipping the book to your home.

Pursue Philanthropic Partnerships

Seek companies that give back to the environment in some way. The more focused they are on sustainability, the more likely they’ll give a percentage of their profits to organizations fighting for zero carbon. An example might be a retailer with big-box stores around the country.

When someone buys a product online, the retailer jumps into action, picking the item and packing it in a box for shipping. Companies like Amazon are now experimenting with AI robots for basic line work. However, you can lower the energy consumption of huge corporations by encouraging your favorite brands to invest in conservation. You can also opt to choose to ship in the original packaging, rather than having your item placed in additional Amazon packaging — avoiding the box in a box wastage. 

While joining forces with a charity yields little direct impact, the funds given to an organization meant to help the earth can have lasting ripples and improve the local environment. 

Use Environmental Browsing Tools 

You can install software and extensions capable of working alongside your browser to estimate how much carbon footprint you’re leaving behind when you place an online order. You can also counteract some of those costs by donating to an eco-friendly project. 

For example, if you buy a hardcover children’s book for a baby shower, you can also choose to donate to reforestation or other projects. Such eco-friendly online shopping is a game changer for protecting the earth’s resources.

Make Your Online Shopping More Sustainable

Earth Day reminds us to pay attention to how we’re treating the world around us. However, change happens in the small, daily habits you embrace. Take small steps to reduce your carbon footprint. Shop closer to home and be aware of the processes your favorite retailers use, as well as their commitment to sustainability. Making an effort to shop greener adds up over time and you’ll soon find you’re living a greener, more conscious lifestyle by default.