Contents
The Rise of Online Shopping and Its Environmental Impact
Over the past decade, global e-commerce has witnessed incredible growth. The COVID-19 pandemic further bolstered this sector, leading to significant shifts in consumer behaviors and record-breaking sales. Giants like Amazon, Alibaba, and Walmart have dominated the online shopping arena, raising consumer expectations. The norms of same-day delivery and free returns have become commonplace. Thanks to digitalization and technological innovations, achievements once deemed impossible have been realized. However, this revolutionary development has come at a high cost to our planet. In this article, we will explore the growing trends of online shopping and their environmental impacts.
Modern Consumerism and Digitalization
Today, consumerism is at its peak. The digitalization of modern life and innovative technologies have fundamentally changed the way we shop. Within a decade, the number of digital buyers increased at an unprecedented rate, turning e-commerce into a billion-dollar industry. The COVID-19 pandemic made digital channels the most popular shopping alternative worldwide, leading to a significant increase in online purchases. In June 2020, global retail e-commerce traffic hit a record with 22 billion monthly visitors and $26.7 trillion in sales.
By the end of this year, Asia is expected to account for more than half of global online retail sales, with a substantial portion of these sales occurring in China, currently the world leader in retail e-commerce sales. Events like Singles’ Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday encourage consumers to shop more, and this year, these events achieved record sales worldwide, especially in China.
The Problem of Excessive Packaging
Online shopping addiction risks dragging the global supply chain to an irreversible point, but it also has significant environmental impacts on our planet. The surge in online shopping has unsurprisingly brought about major environmental issues, visible globally but especially in China. China’s e-commerce success is unparalleled worldwide, with experts predicting that 52.1% of the country’s retail sales will come from online shopping in 2021. China’s success is particularly attributed to the rapid evolution of the internet and the digitalization of payment systems. However, while China’s e-commerce sector can generate billions of dollars in revenue from a single shopping day like Double 11, environmental groups warn consumers about the dramatic costs of this shopping frenzy on the planet.
Product packaging contributes significantly to CO2 emissions from plastic production, polluting ecosystems, and adding vast amounts of waste to our landfills. According to the forest conservation group Canopy, 3 billion trees are pulped every year to produce 241 million tons of shipping cardboard. Globally, only 14% of the 86 million tons of plastic packaging produced each year is recycled.
In China, according to the State Post Bureau, the country’s courier alone processed 83 billion express packages in 2020, resulting in 1.8 million tons of plastic waste and nearly 10 million tons of paper waste. In Hong Kong, a recent study by the local group Green Sense found that 780 million pieces of packaging waste were generated from online shopping in 2020. It was noted that each product used an average of 2.18 pieces of packaging, most of which were difficult-to-recycle composite materials. As landfill areas become increasingly scarce, China is struggling to cope with the growing mountains of e-commerce waste. Companies like Alibaba are therefore trying to reverse the trend by developing more sustainable packaging, and the Chinese government is taking steps to regulate packaging standards.
The Environmental Impact of Online Shopping
The Role of Transportation
The environmental impacts of online shopping cannot be ignored, especially considering the emissions from the transportation sector. A significant portion of the carbon footprint of e-commerce is attributed to the worldwide shipping of goods. In 2020, the shipment and return of products accounted for 37% of total greenhouse gas emissions. The main reason for this issue stems from consumers’ high demand for convenience. By 2030, the number of delivery vehicles is estimated to increase by 36% to about 7.2 million. This not only leads to an approximate 6 million ton increase in CO2 emissions but also results in a 21% increase in travel times due to increased traffic congestion.
The real problem with the environmental impact of online shopping lies in fast shipping. As new technologies make the transportation of goods faster, consumers increasingly demand same-day and instant delivery. According to a report by the World Economic Forum, these two options are particularly popular in China, accounting for over 10% of daily delivered packages; this translates to about 3 million packages a day.
A study by MIT found that traditional shopping has twice the carbon footprint of online shopping. However, this argument is valid only when rush online shopping is not considered. Indeed, when consumers prefer fast delivery, emissions surpass those generated from store shopping. One of the main reasons is that delivery companies have to start shipping before all products arrive. Faced with a one or two-day delivery window, they often have to send trucks that are only half full, leading to more traffic and, consequently, emissions.
But the problem is not limited to shipping. As more and more online retailers, both large and small, offer easy and often free return options, return rates for especially fashion products have peaked, surpassing 30%. A study on consumer behaviors showed that 79% of consumers want free return shipping, and 92% are more likely to repurchase if the return of the products they buy is easy. These types of statistics incentivize companies to offer such options, as they will eventually be profitable for them.
The immense advantages brought by the e-commerce revolution are undeniable. However, the environmental impact of online shopping and its consequences cannot be ignored. Today, most consumers prefer convenience over principles. Although companies becoming increasingly sustainable is a step in the right direction, these changes alone will not completely solve the problem. Consumers have the final say, and it is their behaviors and decisions that determine the impact of this industry.
Therefore, the only way to reverse the dangerous trend of e-commerce is to make a mental shift in the perspective of both producers and consumers.
Source: Earth.org
Leave a Comment