Is online shopping more sustainable?

Published on June 19, 2022 12:05 AM AEST

Highlights

The fast-trending e-commerce business brings with it a fair share of burden on the planet.
It’s high time we step up our actions for sustainable goals on digital platforms.
E-commerce companies need to let go of the express delivery options in order to check carbon emissions per order.
As individual customers, we must opt for more eco-friendly habits while shopping online.

The online shopping fever has amplified in recent years, especially during the last two years of the pandemic. People find it easy, quick, and affordable to browse the collection of goods on multiple digital stores at one time without leaving the comfort of their homes.

Just with a click of a button, they can buy the desired products on e-commerce platforms and get them delivered to their doorstep in a day or two. In short, people count it a bliss. But isn’t this rosy experience too good to be true?

Let’s look at the other side of the coin, the cons of online shopping, and evaluate measures that can make it more sustainable.

You may read: Why should investors explore these 5 ASX online retailers?

Burden of e-commerce on the environment

While we avail the benefits of quick delivery and easy returns, we fail to recognise that it is being relished at the expense of the environment. Options such as 24-hour delivery and express delivery offered by digital stores to their customers bring in a fair amount of rise in pollution from repeated transportation. The number of orders with this so-called perk makes its way up in the air during special days, such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and other happy shopping days.

Also, with the convenience of easy returns, we are just adding up to the piles of packaging waste that remain unnoticed. The high return rate of goods bought online is one of the harsh environmental consequences of online shopping. It has become a common practice among online shoppers to buy, return and reorder, without realising the amount of packaging material that goes to the bin with every single order.

While governments and concerned authorities are taking the essential measures to maintain the ecological balance on a global level, we all as individuals need to make wiser decisions in everyday life, considering the impact of growing e-commerce on the environment.

Do read: Why is energy efficiency important for the environment?

How can online retailers help save the environment?Image source: © lumerbdream | Megapixl.com

Since more people are choosing shopping on digital platforms over traditional shopping, there is a need that digital platforms grow their attention towards certain things that make online shopping more sustainable.

To bring down the adverse impact of online business on the environment, companies must:

Manisha

Author

Manisha - Senior Financial Journalist
631 Posts
Manisha is a Senior Financial Journalist at Kalkine Media, covering the Australian market along with world news. She has tons of experience in content development in the media industry. Her deliverables reflect the strong command she has over the lan...
Shwetambri Chauhan

Reviewer

Shwetambri Chauhan - Senior Manager - Research
18 Posts
Shwetambri Chauhan has rich experience of working across different sectors and markets. Her professional experience includes a 5-year long stint at WNS for a well-known UK-based research and publishing house, a Fitch Group company. She gained her Mas...

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