Online shopping is more eco-friendly than physical retail


For quite some while, environmentalists have been arguing about the impact of online shopping on our planet. Many advanced that the rise in the volume of goods being shipped are increasing emission levels, pollution and waste. Recent developments have increased customers’ expectations for next-day deliveries and Walmart and Amazon have both announced that they will upgrade their services to cater to clients’ demands. This might be more harmful for the environment.

However, e-commerce might not be all bad news. Retail and logistics companies have looked into this issue over the past years. A research from the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics revealed that buying online might in fact be more advantageous for the environment than traditional shopping. The latter involves customers driving to different stores which might release more than twice the carbon footprint than online shopping involves.

The director of Sustainable Logistics Initiative at MIT Josue Velazquez explained how e-commerce is so friendly. He advanced that when customers purchase online, the firm receives several orders and can consolidate everything in a single bigger truck. Therefore the company will be able to deliver items to different houses via a single route. This is more beneficial than multiple vehicles going to one location. Online shopping involves one vehicle going to various places.


Online shopping can be more eco-friendly

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