"About 88 million U.S. households, or roughly 80%, get Amazon Prime deliveries. Amazon ships over 1,000 packages every minute worldwide, employs 1.5 million people, and is so deeply part of American consumer life that avoiding it takes real effort. Amazon is here to stay. For shoppers who care about sustainability, the real question is not whether to use the world's largest retailer, but how to do so thoughtfully and with good information."
"E-commerce was the more sustainable choice in over 75% of the situations the researchers looked at. The study ran 40,000 simulations across four regions, considering factors like what people bought, how far they traveled, how often they returned items, and what kind of transportation they used. The main idea is simple: one delivery van making 100 stops is more efficient than 100 people each driving to the store."
Amazon reaches roughly 88 million U.S. households, ships over 1,000 packages per minute worldwide, and employs 1.5 million people, making it deeply embedded in consumer life. Carbon-footprint comparisons between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail hinge largely on consumer behavior. A 2021 MIT study found online shopping produced 36% less carbon on average and was more sustainable in over 75% of modeled situations, using 40,000 simulations that accounted for purchases, travel distance, returns, and transportation mode. The efficiency advantage comes from consolidated delivery routes. However, a 2022 study showed fast shipping and high return rates can erase that advantage; e-commerce return rates commonly range 36–53%, much higher than typical brick-and-mortar under-10% returns, especially for clothing.
Read at Earth911
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]