How Online Shopping Impacts Carbon Emission

Carbon Emission – In the era of digitalization, almost everything experiences the shifting of online platforms. One of the things that is becoming hype online is shopping. There are many online shopping platforms that are available on the internet for everyone to use.

In the shifting of shopping methods becoming online, there are several impacts to the environment and carbon emission it produces. This article we go through the e-commerce as online shopping phenomena today, and the impacts of it.

Read More: How to Monitor Carbon Emission Monthly with Ease

E-commerce Today and Carbon Emission

Over the last few decades, shopping habits have transformed significantly. People once purchased items from traditional shops, high streets, or department stores. Nowadays, more customers are shopping online, conveniently ordering products to be delivered straight to their homes with just a click.

Currently, one in seven sales occurs online, and research indicates that global online retail could hit a staggering US$4.8 trillion by 2021. As businesses strive to enhance their online shopping platforms, the shift towards internet shopping is expected to persist. 

Online shopping has revolutionized consumer behavior, providing convenience and a vast array of products delivered right to their doorsteps. The growth of e-commerce retail in goods means that more and more products are transported each year directly to consumers. Consumers are also getting used to shopping internationally, which means that more and more e-commerce goods will travel longer distances. Nonetheless, this convenience carries environmental costs, especially concerning carbon emissions. 

Modern Consumerism

The rise of online shopping and e-commerce platforms nowadays also go hand in hand with modern consumerism. Now, we are living in a time when consumerism is at its finest. It means that people buy products in significant numbers continuously even sometimes without a fixed reason.

When products are displayed online, it is so easy for people to get attached by only seeing the appearance that makes people easily get bored with what they have, and desire  to buy the newest one. In this case, the  purchasing activity happens even more when there is a discount or special promotion on certain dates. The consequences of this phenomena is the high number of product waste that ends up in landfills even though the products still might be in perfect condition.

Read More: Carbon Capture and Storage For Mitigating the Climate Change

Plastic Packaging Use that Produce Carbon Emission

Another thing about online shopping that impacts the environment is the use of plastic packaging. It becomes a concern since plastic is still being the materials to cover up almost all the products that people buy online. 

While consumers usually do not have the choice to select the packaging, many sellers on e-commerce platforms are continuing to use the single-use plastic for its main packaging. The reality is, one product may have more than one layer of plastic packaging, for example the use of bubble wrap inside before the outer-layer of packaging. This reality, indeed become a new threat in waste management.

Fast Delivery 

With the advanced innovation in e-commerce, and for fulfilling the market needs, now people can experience the ‘fast delivery’ for products they buy online. But little do people realize that the faster products are delivered, the higher environmental price to pay. 

When delivery companies are constrained by a one- or two-day shipping window, they can’t wait for all items bound for the same destination to arrive before shipping them. This necessitates sending out trucks and planes that aren’t fully loaded, thereby increasing the carbon footprint of each delivered item.

For the products that are delivered overseas, the fast delivery option may cause the product to be transported by airplanes.This type of delivery generates approximately 50 times more carbon emissions per kilometre than shipping by sea.

Return Product and Carbon Emission

Unlike the in-store or conventional shopping where people can ‘try on’ for clothes they buy, the online shopping does not allow people to experience it at first. But now, with the recent revolution, some online shops offer their customers free return if they do not like the items they buy. This happens typically in fashion online stores.

With the ability to return products, the carbon footprint goes up as the transportation for shipping products are doubled. No wonder why the carbon emission contribution from online shopping should be a thing to tackle.

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