E-commerce v. E-nvironment
posted by Sarah Buser on November 25, 2009 | comment
Like many others these days, TradeMark Media tries to be as environmentally-friendly as we can. We recycle, we conserve energy, we’re a Clean Air Partner, we try to use as little paper as possible, and we shop online. Oops, how about that last one? Is anyone really sure if shopping online is better for the environment? Sure, I’m not driving seven miles to Office Depot anymore, but what about the extra packaging? What about the delivery trucks, which put out way grosser emissions than my teeny Ford Ranger?
I started researching this subject to get some answers, but it doesn’t look like there are any just yet, which is surprising considering how much online shopping has taken off in the last ten years. Maybe it's just a close call. Here are some articles I found on the subject. Happy reading and happy Black Friday!
TradeMark Media Launches New Site for Military Families
TradeMark Media Creates Web Site for the Texas Education Agency
TradeMark’s Latest Tiny Addition: Amelia Gonser
Programmer Robert Banh Joins TradeMark Media
Gaining an Advantage through Content Strategy
Five Easy Steps to Developing a Content Strategy
#1 from Jean Conover on November 25, 2009
Sarah,
I can only add that the Crate and Barrel boxes that accumulated in our living room (arriving via FedEx and UPS) before and after our wedding 3 years ago, seemed to point to the fact that massive amounts of packing material are used in the shipping of such online purchases.
I remember being amazed at the fact that we had to tear through 3 separate boxes, several layers of bubble wrap and a mile or so of ribbon before finding the water pitcher we had registered for tucked safely inside.