3 ms·

You may be underestimating the 'carbon footprint' of retail shopping; I have never seen a clear comparison of the two, but I am not sure one would be significan

• amelius 6y ago
  Everyone knows that online shopping is much worse in terms of footprint. First, think of all the items that are returned. Second, think of the incentive it creates to buy more stuff. EDIT: of course reality is more nuanced: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b06252 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b06252 This study is about fast-moving consumer goods, but (quote): > Hiselius et al. argued that consumers who frequently shop online make the same total number of trips to shops as consumers who do not
  • nickff 6y ago
    I don't know that for a fact. Do you have any idea of how many emissions are caused by people driving 'across town' to buy very little? What about people who drive to the store to buy one thing? How about the air conditioning in the mall? Warehouses are much more efficient places to store things than malls and stores. Consumers are very bad at logistics, whereas logistics companies (like couriers) are very efficient at logistics.
    • amelius 6y ago
      In many countries people often go shopping by foot and then buy multiple items from multiple shops in one go.
      • nickff 6y ago
        I am not sure which mode of shopping is more 'energy intensive', I'm just pointing out reasons why online shopping may not be worse than retail shopping.
        • amelius 6y ago
          It's not just about the energy per delivery. It's more about the enormous extra amount of stuff we are buying since online shopping and online advertising became a thing.
          • nickff 6y ago
            Post hoc ergo propter hoc?
• tunesmith 6y ago
  Generally, products from online shopping come from further away.
  • nickff 6y ago
    I doubt that, but would be receptive to any evidence in your favor.