Environment and e-commerce: the complex shopping/carbon footprint equation

E-commerce and the environment: problems and solutions

It's a fact, as many articles have shown: fast fashion, mass consumption and over-consumption are synonymous with excessive consumption that is destructive to the environment. At the risk of repeating ourselves, it has to be said that our consumption patterns have changed radically lately. Particularly with the advent of the internet and the increasing number of online sales sites, which have become indispensable for all brands wishing to promote their products. Yes, ordering online is now an integral part of our daily lives.

Convenient, simple, fast: now there's no need to go out to get a bargain at lower risk, thanks to our easy returns and exchanges policies. No-one will deny that shopping from the comfort of your sofa has become the perfect Sunday evening activity for many of us! But what are the practical consequences of this dematerialised shopping? For the ethical and sustainable fashionista in you, here's an article that will tell you more about the environmental impact of online and physical shopping. When you think about it, you might first think that online shopping reduces energy consumption by cutting down on transport. When you buy in a physical shop, there are two journeys involved: the goods are transported to the shop, and all the shoppers use their means of transport to get to the shop. When you buy online, on the other hand, you only have to make one delivery, and the potential customer doesn't have to make a single journey. So we're tempted to say: yes, e-commerce can be good for the well-being of our beautiful planet... But things aren't quite as simple as that, and this statement needs to be qualified.

The 7 major impacts of e-commerce on the environment:

1) Hosting e-commerce sites and energy consumption:

Hosting computers in the cloud consumes electricity. Data centres will already consume between 2-3% of the world's electricity by 2025.

2) Product storage and delivery times:

Deliveries are becoming faster and faster, with warehouses springing up everywhere to allow 24-hour delivery. Around 15% of the building stock is allocated solely to this purpose, disfiguring the landscape and taking up too much land.

3) Dispatch and delivery of orders:

Trucks are only partly filled to meet delivery deadlines. Empty running is a waste of resources. What's more, 20% of deliveries have to be represented, so a new delivery causes new pollution.

4) Product sourcing:

Low prices and sourcing from countries with low labour costs require long supply routes (sea, air and land).

5) Product packaging:

Here are a few alarming figures to raise awareness: - Product packaging can account for 80% of the total weight of the finished product and up to 65% of its cost. - 43% of packaging ends up on landfill sites, burnt or abandoned in nature. - The cost of managing packaging waste in France is €1.88 billion a year for 12.797 million tonnes of packaging (household and industrial).

The production of packaging is a major source of pollution, requiring a great deal of energy and non-renewable resources, and polluting our air, water and soil. What's more, it's a real poison for humans. Made up of toxic additives, this packaging endangers our health (male sterility, early puberty, breast cancer)!

To top it all off, this over-packaging has a cost, and not the least! Consumers pay twice for packaging. Firstly, by buying over-packaged products (packaging represents on average 20% of the final price of a product). The second time is through their taxes (waste management costs €7 billion a year!).

So what are we waiting for?

6) Returns:

In the European Union, consumers have 14 days to return goods purchased online. Companies (even eco-responsible ones) put stamped return labels in the parcel to allow free returns.

The result: 24% of orders are returned in France.

Did you know? For players like Amazon, the returns processing centre is located in a country with low labour costs. So the returns travel by lorry across the whole of Europe to be processed in Bulgaria... and then come back when another order is placed in the other direction. It's mind-boggling!

What are the solutions for reducing the environmental impact of online shopping?

Below are the proposals put forward by the gouv.fr website to improve the environmental impact of e-commerce. You can find their proposal here.

Better inform consumers:

1) Offer several choices with a different carbon impact:

2) Do not encourage consumers to order several sizes of a product with the aim of limiting product returns, for example by offering personalised advice for sizes

3) Remind consumers of sorting and reuse instructions for packaging, in particular

4) From 1 September 2022, enable consumers to better identify products with the best carbon footprint in the catalogue.
Work on packaging (volume and reuse):

1) Use only delivery packaging that is recycled, recyclable and reusable, giving priority to packaging with the best environmental record, for example from certified sustainably managed forests.

2) Reduce over-packaging and empty packaging by adapting the container to the contents.

Work on warehousing and deliveries.

1) Consolidate deliveries wherever possible.

2) Offer eco-responsible delivery methods: Encourage the development of low-carbon delivery methods and choose companies that are committed to reducing emissions (see Ademe's EVE programme).

2) Finally, as well as optimising last-mile delivery, delivery to the collection point can also be considered. Work on products:

3) Offer eco-responsible products: products that are locally made, sustainable, repairable and recyclable have a much better impact than products that travel around the earth one and a half times without you.

4) Advice and better presentation of the range to reduce returns: Better presentation and appropriate advice will reduce returns. Consumers should not be encouraged to pick up several items only to return the ones they don't want.

5) Offset the carbon impact of e-commerce activity:

To improve the environmental impact of e-commerce, we have put in place the following measures:

A) Eco-responsible and locally manufactured products sourced as locally as possible

We manufacture our clothes in France and source as many of our raw materials as possible in France and as far away as possible in Europe, which reduces transport and our carbon footprint.
B) Recyclable and recycled packaging

* To send you your parcels, we have chosen environmentally-friendly packaging, such as cardboard or paper, and reuse certain packaging elements several times to promote recycling. Box sizes are adapted to the size of your garment.

*Tips to reduce the impact even further: Reuse the cardboard.

C) Reduce returns

* We invite you to be very vigilant when buying your garment on our site so that you don't have to return the item and contact us if you have the slightest doubt! Size guide, personalised advice, special alterations... we're here to make sure that you'll love your new Aatise piece for a long time to come, without giving in to the urge to make a compulsive purchase that you'll regret a few days later... Having said all that, far be it from us to urge you to cancel your next shopping trip: we simply encourage you to pedal with a clear conscience to one of our points of sale in France or to the nearest Point Relais!
D) Delivery by post or by collection point to reduce the impact

* You can choose between delivery by post or delivery by Mondial Relais collection point
To find out more:


 https://www.linfodurable.fr/conso/vente-en-ligne-cinq-gestes-pour-limiter-son-empreinte-carbone-4767