Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 15 views

    Online Shopping or E

    Uploaded by

    Viktor Peñas
    E-commerce has both positive and negative environmental impacts. While it reduces transportation emissions and paper waste by conducting business online, it can increase other forms of pollution. Positives include decreased commuting and paper use from digital transfer of information. However, delivery vehicles and excessive packaging from shipping can negate these benefits. Returns also negatively impact the environment through added transportation and packaging. Overall, e-commerce has potential for sustainability but also risks if not implemented carefully.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Online Shopping or E

    Uploaded by

    Viktor Peñas
    15 views2 pages
    E-commerce has both positive and negative environmental impacts. While it reduces transportation emissions and paper waste by conducting business online, it can increase other forms of pollution. Positives include decreased commuting and paper use from digital transfer of information. However, delivery vehicles and excessive packaging from shipping can negate these benefits. Returns also negatively impact the environment through added transportation and packaging. Overall, e-commerce has potential for sustainability but also risks if not implemented carefully.

    Original Title

    Online shopping or E

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    E-commerce has both positive and negative environmental impacts. While it reduces transportation emissions and paper waste by conducting business online, it can increase other forms of pollution. Positives include decreased commuting and paper use from digital transfer of information. However, delivery vehicles and excessive packaging from shipping can negate these benefits. Returns also negatively impact the environment through added transportation and packaging. Overall, e-commerce has potential for sustainability but also risks if not implemented carefully.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    15 views2 pages

    Online Shopping or E

    Uploaded by

    Viktor Peñas
    E-commerce has both positive and negative environmental impacts. While it reduces transportation emissions and paper waste by conducting business online, it can increase other forms of pollution. Positives include decreased commuting and paper use from digital transfer of information. However, delivery vehicles and excessive packaging from shipping can negate these benefits. Returns also negatively impact the environment through added transportation and packaging. Overall, e-commerce has potential for sustainability but also risks if not implemented carefully.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Online shopping or E-Commerce is becoming more and more popular worldwide.

    People shop
    online for a number of reasons. Mostly for convenience, while others shop online in order to
    contribute in helping the environment. There is a perception that E-commerce is a sustainable
    practice and I would like to provide insights into the impacts of E-commerce on the environment.
    But E-Commerce comes with its own positives as well as negative impact on the environment.

    Let me state a few positives,

    Transportation emissions

    E-Commerce allows businesses to conduct without physically commuting. Transportation is


    responsible for a large number of harmful emissions or pollution. And by reducing reliance on it,
    you can reduce the carbon footprint. E-Commerce, additionally, allow employees to work from
    home, that can decrease carbon footprint even further.

    Paper waste

    When information is transferred digitally, it reduces the need for the use of physical paper
    throughout the business. Paperless businesses have a number of benefits and can be made
    possible using E-Commerce.

    Digital storage

    Again, the transfer of information digitally, paired with digital manufacturing could eliminate
    warehouses and create what we call, on-demand production. Warehouses can be an
    environmental issue. Because they consume large tracts of land and trucks travelling to and from
    can also create pollution, noise pollution, etc.

    On the other hand, although the potentials of E-Commerce to save material and energy cannot be
    denied, it is too early to conclude that it only has positive impacts to the environment. Each
    positive impact can also be coupled with negative impact as well,

    Again, Transportation emissions

    Even though e-commerce business models reduce the number of transportation emissions put
    into the air by their customers, their delivery trucks and other vehicles (motorcycles, lots and lots
    of them) can still emit large amounts of harmful pollutants. Additionally, the location of the
    customer to the distribution center can make a large impact as well.

    Packaging

    All shipped items require some degree of packaging, but the online shipping boom is creating a
    massive cardboard footprint from all of the materials used to ship. Additionally, businesses want
    to make sure their products are received in perfect condition. This can result in excessive
    padding techniques using styrofoam packing peanuts, bubble wraps, packaging tapes or
    additional paper. 
    Item returns

    For example, not every customer is satisfied with an item that is shipped to them. An item may
    not be the same as it appears online, it may not fit, something could have been broken in transit
    — there are a variety of possibilities that lead consumers to return the item. Item returns
    contribute negatively to the environment through both transportation emissions and packaging
    issues.

    There is a future for sustainable E-Commerce. It can change due to a dynamic E-Commerce
    trends. We should consider focusing on Sustainable packaging, Sustainable shipping and lastly,
    decreasing energy waste.

    I think, through a strong sense of campaign and advocacy, we can start looking for solutions.

    You might also like