Can we make online shopping climate friendly?

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Hi everyone,

This week, I’ve been thinking about something that’s become second nature to many of us: clicking “Buy Now.”

Online shopping is fast, convenient, and often cheaper. But it’s also a major driver of emissions, packaging waste, and overproduction of goods. The e-commerce ecosystem touches everything from warehouses to cardboard to delivery vans, so it’s a major industry that we need to decarbonise rapidly.

The good news is that there’s a wave of new technology working behind the scenes to make e-commerce cleaner, smarter, and a lot more sustainable.

Here are a few of the most exciting solutions I’ve come across:

Smarter Delivery Routes

Getting your package from a warehouse to your doorstep is one of the biggest carbon contributors when it comes to online shopping. But AI and route-optimisation tools are starting to change that.

Companies like Onfleet and Urbantz are helping retailers and delivery partners to plan more efficient delivery routes, reducing fuel use and avoiding congestion.

At the same time, some retailers are starting to experiment with micro-fulfilment centres. Small, localised warehouses that get goods to customers faster and with a smaller footprint.

These approaches combined can help to massively cut down the emissions associated with the tail end of the online shopping process.

Reusable Packaging

One of the most visible pains in e-commerce is the packaging it uses up, cardboard, plastic, tape, polystyrene… the list goes on.

Startups like Returnity and RePack are offering reusable, returnable packing systems. Instead of throwing away the box, customers can send it back (typically using a prepaid label), and then the retailer can reuse it again and again!

Some of these services are subscription-based based whilst others are for one-off purchases, but the core idea of packaging that doesn’t just end up in the bin remains the same.

Not only do these platforms reduce waste, but they also contribute to building the habits we all need to form to create truly circular systems.

Platforms Encouraging Better Habits

A growing number of platforms are integrating climate-friendly “nudges” directly into the shopping experience, aiming to help consumers reduce their impact with little effort.

Companies like Ethical Superstore or Thrift+, encourage low-waste and secondhand shopping.

And big retailers are starting to join in too, offering carbon offsets, slower shipping options, or incentives for bundling orders together.

Smarter Warehousing

Warehouses aren’t the most exciting things to talk about on face value, but they’re one of the biggest levers to pull for sustainability in e-commerce.

Modern systems are starting to use machine learning to more accurately forecast demand, meaning fewer surplus goods sitting aside on shelves and eventually getting binned! This also helps reduce returns, which are a surprisingly large contributor to emissions and waste.

Some warehouses are even adopting robotics and vertical storage to shrink their physical footprint while handling more goods and at faster speeds.

Circular Commerce is Growing

Overconsumption lies at the heart of e-commerce’s climate impact. It’s a simple equation of the more we buy, the more emissions we produce. But circular commerce is gaining popularity and aiming to counter this trend.

Platforms like Vestiaire Collective, Back Market and Reflaunt all specialise in selling secondhand or refurbished items from fashion to technology, helping to increase the lifespan of items and reduce the demand for new production.

Even major brands like Patagonia and Ikea are slowly getting involved in this, piloting resale programs and “buy back” schemes in stores.

The more we can reduce the sale of new goods, the less waste we generate and the fewer emissions we generate.

E-commerce isn’t going away. But the way it works and the technology behind it is changing fast.

Like a lot of the technology I cover, these solutions don’t require us to overhaul our processes or behaviour. They’re natural parts of the shopping process that shift the focus slowly towards sustainability.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have you seen any clever sustainable packaging in use recently, or used a platform to purchase second-hand items? Hit reply and let me know!

Catch you next week,
James

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