Shopping Online – Is It A Greener Option?

It’s probably fair to say that most people are more environmentally aware these days. It doesn’t seem likely that we are about to turn into a nation of eco-warriors overnight, but most people are quite prepared to make a little effort to be greener. It is a lot of relatively small changes by a large number of people that tends to make the difference. The good news is that you can be more environmentally friendly whilst saving both time and money.

For example, Carnegie Melon University recently conducted a study which concluded that shopping online is considerably better for the environment than the traditional method of shopping at retail outlets. The purchase of a flash memory stick was used as one example and it was found the traditional retail method had an environmental impact which was 35% greater than making the exact same purchase online.

A similar study – carried out by CleanTech this time – found that the carbon footprint of a book was 7.5 kg of CO2 over the course of its life. However, this figure was doubled if the customer got in their car, drove to the store, bought the book and then drove home again rather than having it delivered by post.

Approximately 65% of the emissions generated by traditional shopping methods are a direct result of the customer’s transport to the store and back again.

Shopping online and choosing postal delivery isn’t just better for the environment – it’s more convenient, it saves you time and you can often get what you’re looking for at a lower price. You can reduce the environmental impact even further simply by choosing the right type of product.

For example, if you choose to buy electronic books instead of the conventional printed type, you will save on paper, ink and the energy used in the printing and binding process. As a rule, electronic books are cheaper than the printed versions – plus you save on gas. You can even subscribe to get newspapers and magazines delivered to e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle reader every day.

In a similar manner, if you choose to download music to your mp3 player or PC, you will save on CDs, packaging and distribution emissions. Downloading movies, which you can now do from Amazon, iTunes and a host of other sites also has both financial and environmental benefits.

So when it comes to purchasing goods on the internet, why not use a twin pronged attack. Firstly, if you can buy online rather than using your car to visit the local store then that will generally be a good alternative. Secondly, if you replace physical products with downloadable ones then not only will you be environmentally friendly – but you will save both money and time.

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