In today’s modern world of online shopping, consumers have the option to get their goods delivered within days, and even hours now. With that increased convenience comes consequences, however, as drivers are making multiple trips in the same areas daily in the US, increasing gas emissions and further driving the devastating impact of climate change.
From ordering something over the phone while watching late night shopping advertisements and waiting weeks to receive it, to being able to get something delivered to your front door in the same day with the click of a button, the world has come a long way when it comes to modern shopping.
While the world has gotten accustomed to a certain level of convenience and speed when it comes to online shopping, especially in the US, it has come at a cost.
The distance delivery drivers travel from a fulfillment center combined with multiple trips to the same area a day and possibly only riding with a half-empty truck that needs consistent replenishment, the environment has felt the toll.
Sreedevi Rajagopalan, a research scientist at MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics, told AP that when customers choose faster shipping options and earlier delivery dates, the systems “shift from optimized routing to whatever gets the package out fastest, and that means higher emissions.”
“Trucks may leave warehouses before they’re full and drivers might loop the same neighborhood multiple times a day. For the same demand, fast shipping definitely increases emissions 10 to 12%.”
Especially during the holiday season, in order for retailers to meet tight delivery schedules they opt to use air freight as well, which produces even more excessive emissions than other more eco-friendly options such as trains.
“Given that companies want to be competitive in terms of speed, it comes at the cost of your efficiency,” Sreedevi said.
“Vans are half full, and you make multiple rounds, multiple trips to the same location … your fuel consumption goes up, and you’re not able to consolidate.”
Larger companies such as Amazon have tried to minimize these ecological impacts by increasing their supply chains to be ideally closer to customers to reduce mileage and improve speed as well. The goal is always to continue to make the journey for a package fast while reducing emissions.
“By really leveraging our supply chain efficiencies that we have at scale, we’re able to both offer better speed and sustainability outcomes at the same time,” said Chris Atkins, director of Worldwide Operations Sustainability at Amazon.
Sreedevi stated that getting product from a fulfillment center to the customers door is known as the “last mile” of shipping, and is one of the hardest stages to make less pollution. Emissions also rise even more when consumers place multiple small orders throughout one given week.
“If I place an order this morning and then I place an order this evening and choose fast shipping, the company might have already processed my morning order and wouldn’t wait for my evening order to consolidate. Imagine you’re not only sending a half-full truck, you’re also bringing back that truck empty. … Emissions are going to go up.”
Christopher Faires, assistant professor of logistics and supply chain management at Georgia Southern University said that “consumers can lower emissions if they’re willing to wait even a tiny bit, and they’ll save money at the same time.”
Sreedevi stated that delaying delivery by one to two days can result in a 36% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, and three to four days pushed that reduction to 56%. So when it’s possible, opting for standard or delayed shopping can help greatly.
Atkins from Amazon said that changes to their network are actually cutting emissions that are directly linked to quick delivery.
“Aviation is very carbon-intensive relative to ground shipping. One of the other things that Amazon and other logistics companies are looking at doing is: How do we mode-shift to less carbon intensive forms of transportation?” said Atkins.
“People are more likely to delay or consolidate orders once they understand the environmental impact of fast shipping,” according to Sreedevi.
“A significant number of consumers decided to wait for longer delivery or delayed their shipping when we showed them the environmental impact information in the form of trees. So it’s important that they are educated.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.
