Which is greener: shopping at the mall or online?

I needed new underwear. So, without really thinking, I put in an order to Victoria's Secret online for a dozen pairs or so.

All told, I ended up with four packages shipped to me: one box and three bags, 4 shipping invoices, 6 catalogs, 8 printed promotions, and 12 individually wrapped pieces of underwear in large plastic bags.

It got me thinking: what is better for the environment? Shopping online or going to the store?

My initial instinct is that online shopping would be greener. After all:

• It takes less energy to power a warehouse than hundreds of stores across the country.
• It seems likely that UPS dropping off packages to geographically targeted areas is more fuel-efficient than those millions of people all getting in their cars.
• People return significantly less things when they online shop, creating less in shipping and return costs back to manufacturers and distributors.

However, recent studies show that may of these benefits are negated by the increased packaging sent out through the mail, a significant portion of which is not recyclable.

Here are your tips for minimizing your online shopping footprint:

1.  Whenever you order online, note with your order that you'd like to minimize your packaging. If your retailer doesn't allow this, send a message to their customer service department.

2.  Recycle whatever you can out of your order. Boxes can be recycled. UPS stores love to accept styrofoam peanuts. Most inserts, invoices, and catalogs can be recycled.

3.  If you encounter an online retailer who is notoriously wasteful with packaging materials (like Victoria's Secret), post about it to Brave New Leaf! The more pressure we can put on e-commerce retailers to shift their ways, the more likely they will adopt greener practices, making it a more sustainable channel.

Comments

[Lu]

I would also add that one way to increase your green with online shopping is to REUSE the packaging. Most things these days come with the inflated plastic bags...I save all of them and reuse them. Also, when I send them to my friends and family I put in a little request that they do the same. Most have told me that they do!!

One other note, if you get something that is shipped in "popcorn" most shipping stores, like UPS, will actually take them from you and reuse them as well. This is a great thing especially during the holiday times.

[Lu]

I would also add that one way to increase your green with online shopping is to REUSE the packaging. Most things these days come with the inflated plastic bags...I save all of them and reuse them. Also, when I send them to my friends and family I put in a little request that they do the same. Most have told me that they do!!

One other note, if you get something that is shipped in "popcorn" most shipping stores, like UPS, will actually take them from you and reuse them as well. This is a great thing especially during the holiday times.

[N. & J.]

We reuse or recycle all of our shipping and packing materials and when my office had to relocate we just went do to the recycle center and picked up a bunch of cardboard boxes. It was free and better for the environment. The other thing to keep in mind is to be mindful when you ship things. Real popcorn works just as well and can be fed to the birds on the other end.

[Peggy]

Yes, another bad thing about VS is that they'll put you on their crazy mailing / e-mail list. I had to stop it.

Other places, like reusablebags.com and Gaiam are much more responsible about their shipping. If you take into consideration driving to different stores to get what you want, I think online is often better as long as you reuse/recycle the cardboard. Also, get off mailing lists of unwanted catalogs.

Amazon.com and other places also give you the option to ship your items in as few shipments as possible (versus ship as available).

[bravenewleaf]

Lu - Great point. Reusing shipping is crucial. I've just started taking popcorn back to UPS. They gave me a funny look at first, but now they recognize me as "popcorn lady".

N.&J.- That's cool. What "recycle center" did you get your boxes from? The place where they actually take and process recycling? I love the idea of real popcorn. I've never heard that suggested before. Course that does contribute to the Ethanol corn shortage...but it's much better than plastic peanuts!

Peggy- Thanks for the tip about Amazon. That's an important one to remember: always opt to consolidate your packages if possible.