3 ms·

What's the resultant carbon footprint as a result of delivering these things back?

by Yhippa 9y ago

jeddawson 9y ago
My guess is that the returning of the supplies could result in a lower carbon footprint. The whole delivery system is optimized for getting products from supplier to receiver, so there's a decent amount of unused capacity for getting items back into the delivery system. The "last mile" delivery trucks progress from full to near empty throughout the day and likely already pass or get super close to homes that could be returning packaging thus keeping the vehicle near capacity throughout the day. Once back into the delivery network the returning packaging should fill existing extra capacity especially as it get's closer to the supplier where they're already shipping out a much higher volume than they are receiving. Just a guess, but that's how I've rationalized it ;)
- ethbro 9y ago
  Or just have a collection compactor at WF. Easy peasy, and all squashed for easy transport. Plus now recycling minded folks are likely to go by WF more frequently.
pera 9y ago
They could try to do both things (delivering new packages and taking back containers) at the same time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkman http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/25/argentinean-customs-have-your-soda-water-delivered-to-your-door/ http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/25/argentinean-customs-hav...
- cowsandmilk 9y ago
  And that is indeed what AmazonFresh does. They pick them up when they do your next delivery.
gnicholas 9y ago
When I found out that Tile offers mail-in recycling for their trackers, I wondered the same thing. Perhaps this service is offered to assuage the guilty conscience of people who would like to buy a tracker but feel bad about buying something they'll throw away. But if it's something that can be recycled by the company (again, at what cost?), then it goes from being disposable to "reusable".

What's the resultant carbon footprint as a result of delivering these things back?

by Yhippa 9y ago

What's the resultant carbon footprint as a result of delivering these things back?

My guess is that the returning of the supplies could result in a lower carbon footprint. The whole delivery system is optimized for getting products from supplier to receiver, so there's a decent amount of unused capacity for getting items back into the delivery system. The "last mile" delivery trucks progress from full to near empty throughout the day and likely already pass or get super close to homes that could be returning packaging thus keeping the vehicle near capacity throughout the day. Once back into the delivery network the returning packaging should fill existing extra capacity especially as it get's closer to the supplier where they're already shipping out a much higher volume than they are receiving. Just a guess, but that's how I've rationalized it ;)

ethbro 9y ago
Or just have a collection compactor at WF. Easy peasy, and all squashed for easy transport. Plus now recycling minded folks are likely to go by WF more frequently.

pera 9y ago

They could try to do both things (delivering new packages and taking back containers) at the same time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkman https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milkman http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/25/argentinean-customs-have-your-soda-water-delivered-to-your-door/ http://pocketcultures.com/2012/01/25/argentinean-customs-hav...

cowsandmilk 9y ago
And that is indeed what AmazonFresh does. They pick them up when they do your next delivery.

gnicholas 9y ago

When I found out that Tile offers mail-in recycling for their trackers, I wondered the same thing. Perhaps this service is offered to assuage the guilty conscience of people who would like to buy a tracker but feel bad about buying something they'll throw away. But if it's something that can be recycled by the company (again, at what cost?), then it goes from being disposable to "reusable".