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It would be interesting if Amazon would calculate how much CO2 they save because their customers don't drive to the supermarket but order from Amazon. With the

It would be interesting if Amazon would calculate how much CO2 they save because their customers don't drive to the supermarket but order from Amazon. With the data that Amazon certainly has access to, it should be possible to calculate this. Certainly considerable in the US.

MisterBastahrd 3y ago
Meanwhile, I would never dream of ordering groceries outside of specialty items through Amazon. They are prohibitively expensive on most food items that have any sort of weight compared to Walmart and Instacart. Granted, I don't have a Whole Foods nearby.
- nashashmi 3y ago
  Just you wait. Order your groceries in the morning. It will be arrived by night from a service called grocery fulfillment and distribution.
  - huytersd 3y ago
    Instacart already delivers within an hour to my home from a store of my choice. This means in addition to the regular grocery store items, I can get speciality items from the ethnic Indian, Chinese, Korean stores delivered too. With the subscription ($9.99/month) there are no delivery fees either. That’s going to be hard to beat.
    - eurleif 3y ago
      Yes, no delivery fees; merely service fees for the service of delivery.
      - huytersd 3y ago
        Yeah but it’s like $2-3, not terrible for the convenience.
    - csa 3y ago
      > there are no delivery fees either Careful with that. The delivery fees may not be explicit, but they definitely charge more for items at some stores, with Costco being one of the more egregious ones.
      - huytersd 3y ago
        Are you sure about that? Because if so I would reconsider my use of instacart. We buy a lot of stuff from Costco and it’s a 45 min drive away so we almost never go into the store.
        csa 3y ago
        Check out this thread on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/1cal0ff/comparing_costco_prices_instacart_vs_in_store/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/1cal0ff/comparing_c... Short answers: - Yes, they mark up. 24%ish. - Markup may be different when shopping on IC directly versus Costco same day delivery (via IC). - Coupons like 50% off orders over $xx changes that math. - Factor in tip into the equation.
  - roughly 3y ago
    Not to beat the drum on urbanization, but I live 2 blocks from my grocery store, so that’s not really putting anything on the table for me. Different views of the future.
    - nashashmi 3y ago
      Me too. But coming back with 40 lb of groceries in hand is a chore. And if I can consolidate the list to a 24-hour schedule for one week period, that hammers it out majority of cases where emergency shopping is once in a blue moon.
    - 0x457 3y ago
      I have a grocery store literally downstairs, and I sometimes pay someone to deliver bags to me.
      - nashashmi 3y ago
        Note to self: build great stuff, advertise to ridiculous customers.
        0x457 3y ago
        Well, it cost me $15 more to deliver food from there. I save roughly an hour of time and do something more interesting instead. Also, not walking through the isles saves me from buying random junk. Jokes aside, I save money by using grocery delivery.
- duxup 3y ago
  Personally I don't order food items from Amazon because I worry about their whole counterfeit issues / that they really don't care about that issue.
Closi 3y ago
Not quite as simple as that bit of analysis, as: 1. The CO2 of the Amazon delivery needs to be taken into account (apportioned to the number of drops), vs delivery to store. Delivery to stores is highly efficient compared to last mile. 2. Most Amazon purchases probably wouldn't directly result in less trips to the supermarket (i.e. am I driving to the supermarket just to pick up one item, or am I going there anyway and picking up everything I need when I am there?)
- earthling8118 3y ago
  Delivery to stores might be more efficient, but then the last mile cost doesn't go away. Most of the stuff that I would buy from Amazon isn't available at the stores that I go to so it would require an entirely separate trip to somewhere that I would not go otherwise. Often multiple stores.
  - throwup238 3y ago
    It depends on where your stores are and how frugal the rest of your shopping is. My Trader Joes/Costco (five minutes away) is in an eight block shopping center with Best Buy, Home Depot, and a dozen other big box stores which I think is fairly common in America. Between that and shopping for fresh meat and produce at ethnic markets that are all over the city, the vast majority of my shopping is amortized over staple groceries that I can’t or won’t buy online.
    - fnordian_slip 3y ago
      And in the EU at least, it's not as unfeasible as in most American cities to just do your grocery shopping with a backpack, since there are tons of walkable cities. I go about twice a week, usually when I pass one anyway on the way home, and haven't needed a car for the last fifteen years. For use cases like this, the last mile is carbon neutral. Edit: Re-reading my comment, it comes across as if there were no walkable cities in the US. That was not my intention. Of course there are, but from what I've seen, not that many. Also, somehow there is a lot of political opposition to them, because of certain conspiracy theorists who seem to have taken over one of the political parties. And since there are only two worth mentioning, the situation is unlikely to improve.

MisterBastahrd 3y ago

Meanwhile, I would never dream of ordering groceries outside of specialty items through Amazon. They are prohibitively expensive on most food items that have any sort of weight compared to Walmart and Instacart. Granted, I don't have a Whole Foods nearby.

nashashmi 3y ago
Just you wait. Order your groceries in the morning. It will be arrived by night from a service called grocery fulfillment and distribution.
- huytersd 3y ago
  Instacart already delivers within an hour to my home from a store of my choice. This means in addition to the regular grocery store items, I can get speciality items from the ethnic Indian, Chinese, Korean stores delivered too. With the subscription ($9.99/month) there are no delivery fees either. That’s going to be hard to beat.
  - eurleif 3y ago
    Yes, no delivery fees; merely service fees for the service of delivery.
    - huytersd 3y ago
      Yeah but it’s like $2-3, not terrible for the convenience.
  - csa 3y ago
    > there are no delivery fees either Careful with that. The delivery fees may not be explicit, but they definitely charge more for items at some stores, with Costco being one of the more egregious ones.
    - huytersd 3y ago
      Are you sure about that? Because if so I would reconsider my use of instacart. We buy a lot of stuff from Costco and it’s a 45 min drive away so we almost never go into the store.
      - csa 3y ago
        Check out this thread on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/1cal0ff/comparing_costco_prices_instacart_vs_in_store/ https://www.reddit.com/r/Frugal/comments/1cal0ff/comparing_c... Short answers: - Yes, they mark up. 24%ish. - Markup may be different when shopping on IC directly versus Costco same day delivery (via IC). - Coupons like 50% off orders over $xx changes that math. - Factor in tip into the equation.
- roughly 3y ago
  Not to beat the drum on urbanization, but I live 2 blocks from my grocery store, so that’s not really putting anything on the table for me. Different views of the future.
  - nashashmi 3y ago
    Me too. But coming back with 40 lb of groceries in hand is a chore. And if I can consolidate the list to a 24-hour schedule for one week period, that hammers it out majority of cases where emergency shopping is once in a blue moon.
  - 0x457 3y ago
    I have a grocery store literally downstairs, and I sometimes pay someone to deliver bags to me.
    - nashashmi 3y ago
      Note to self: build great stuff, advertise to ridiculous customers.
      - 0x457 3y ago
        Well, it cost me $15 more to deliver food from there. I save roughly an hour of time and do something more interesting instead. Also, not walking through the isles saves me from buying random junk. Jokes aside, I save money by using grocery delivery.
duxup 3y ago
Personally I don't order food items from Amazon because I worry about their whole counterfeit issues / that they really don't care about that issue.

Closi 3y ago

Not quite as simple as that bit of analysis, as: 1. The CO2 of the Amazon delivery needs to be taken into account (apportioned to the number of drops), vs delivery to store. Delivery to stores is highly efficient compared to last mile. 2. Most Amazon purchases probably wouldn't directly result in less trips to the supermarket (i.e. am I driving to the supermarket just to pick up one item, or am I going there anyway and picking up everything I need when I am there?)

earthling8118 3y ago
Delivery to stores might be more efficient, but then the last mile cost doesn't go away. Most of the stuff that I would buy from Amazon isn't available at the stores that I go to so it would require an entirely separate trip to somewhere that I would not go otherwise. Often multiple stores.
- throwup238 3y ago
  It depends on where your stores are and how frugal the rest of your shopping is. My Trader Joes/Costco (five minutes away) is in an eight block shopping center with Best Buy, Home Depot, and a dozen other big box stores which I think is fairly common in America. Between that and shopping for fresh meat and produce at ethnic markets that are all over the city, the vast majority of my shopping is amortized over staple groceries that I can’t or won’t buy online.
  - fnordian_slip 3y ago
    And in the EU at least, it's not as unfeasible as in most American cities to just do your grocery shopping with a backpack, since there are tons of walkable cities. I go about twice a week, usually when I pass one anyway on the way home, and haven't needed a car for the last fifteen years. For use cases like this, the last mile is carbon neutral. Edit: Re-reading my comment, it comes across as if there were no walkable cities in the US. That was not my intention. Of course there are, but from what I've seen, not that many. Also, somehow there is a lot of political opposition to them, because of certain conspiracy theorists who seem to have taken over one of the political parties. And since there are only two worth mentioning, the situation is unlikely to improve.