Online shopping is more environmentally friendly than driving to the shops, according to a new report from the Logistics Research Centre at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. Their work is being undertaken as part of the UK-Government funded Green Logistics research programme: www.greenlogistics.org.uk The team found that, on average, having goods delivered to your home by parcel carrier generates significantly less carbon dioxide than making a special trip to the shops to buy the same item.
The research compared the carbon footprints of online and conventional shopping for small goods such as books, CDs, cameras and household items. The work focused on the final stage in the delivery process, the so-called ‘last mile’, when goods are either delivered to the home or customers travel to the shops to collect them in person. It was found that a typical van-based home delivery produced 181g CO2, compared with 4,274g CO2 for an average trip to the shops by car. An average bus trip by a shopper produced 1,265gCO2. In other words, when a customer drives to the shops and buys fewer than 24 small, non-food items per trip or travels by bus and buys fewer than 7 items, home delivery is more environmentally-friendly.
