This article was originally contributed by Paige Holliman in 9/2008
“Green” Consumers want to know; is shopping online good for the environment? If you’re trying to make environmentally responsible choices, you may have wondered whether you can shop online with a clear conscience. What is the net effect of shopping online and having items shipped right to your door? You already know that it is incredibly convenient, saving you time and money, especially when you factor in the astronomical price of fuel. But is shopping online really a good choice for the environment?
You might assume making a ten-minute trip to the store would use less fuel and energy than having the same product shipped hundreds of miles straight to your door. I was surprised to find the opposite to be true, and to find out just how many ways eCommerce helps the environment!
Dr. Joseph Romm, Lead Author and Executive Director for The Center for Energy and Climate solutions reports, “Internet shopping uses less energy to get a package to your house. Shipping 10 pounds of packages by overnight air – the most energy-intensive delivery mode – uses 40 percent less fuel than driving round-trip to the mall. Ground shipping by truck uses just one tenth the energy of driving yourself.”
The energy efficiency and emissions control potential of online shopping is growing exponentially. I cornered the delivery man in our office today to ask if there had been recent internal policy changes to improve fuel and energy efficiency. I’m glad I asked! He reported substantial changes in the way UPS manages deliveries. In addition to their recent policy of “No left turns”, which conserves fuel and controls emissions, UPS recently bought 500 alternative fuel vehicles. According to UPS, the switch to alternative fuel vehicles will save 176,000 gallons of fuel per year, which is roughly the equivalent to taking 100 UPS trucks off the road. Moreover, the trucks powered by compressed natural gas will reduce truck emissions by another 20 percent. Fedex quickly followed suit, announcing plans to replace 30,000 trucks with hybrids. When the largest fleets in the country start competing for the title of “Greenest Carrier”, everyone wins!
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of the potential impact of increased internet sales on the world’s economy. According to Dr. Romm’s report:
- The Internet decreases our need for commercial building space. The resulting energy savings from operations and maintenance alone were estimated to save a total 53 billion kilowatt hours and 67 trillion BTUs worth of natural gas per year by the year 2007.
- The avoided construction would save the equivalent of 10 more power plants worth of energy, and another 40 million metric tons of greenhouse pollution.
The Internet saves million of tons of paper every year. The American Forest & Paper Association reported paper production has experienced a steady decline since the year 2000, an average of .7% annually, according to an article published by Recycling Today Magazine. Newsprint production is sliding even faster, decreasing by 28.7% since 2000. For the first time, in February of 2008, the Whitehouse published it’s 3000+ page annual budget online, saving roughly 20 tons of paper, or 480 trees.
In the second quarter of 2008, the US Census Bureau reported 34.6 billion dollars in ecommerce sales, an increase of 8.9% over 2nd quarter of 2007. Apparently, consumers agree, online shopping makes sense!
Ecommerce is reaching new heights of convenience and affordability. Major retailers like Gap, JC Penney, and Target are focusing on internet sales, which are growing as fast as in-store sales are declining. The Gap recently re-organized their website to include Old Navy and Banana Republic, one convenient shopping cart for all three stores. JC Penney took bold steps, offering an improved rewards program and discounts to internet shoppers that compare with their in-store sales. Target offers free shipping on orders over $50, and let’s face it, it’s easy to spend $50 at Target.
Check out a few of your favorite retailers online, chances are, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see better sales and shipping deals than in the past, not to mention increased availability. I used to hate clicking on a product only to read “Only available in stores.” I’m happy to report the imminent demise of that particular caveat, I haven’t encountered it in months!
Affordable hosted shopping cart solutions like MightyMerchant’s ecommerce platform make it easier than ever for small business owners, local artisans, manufacturers, and tradesmen to market their unique products and services online. Vendors who couldn’t afford to open a brick-and-mortar store are able to reach a huge and ever expanding audience, on the internet. This is a major step toward sustainability in local markets and toward helping small businesses and mom and pop shops thrive!
It’s never been easier or made more sense to “Go Green.” Energy, resource, and fuel conservation have quietly slipped into our collective social conscience. Americans are going green in record numbers. The good news is, going green saves green, and we all appreciate money in the bank.
