5 Things You Can Do to Shop Online Sustainably

We live in a time where practically anything and everything can be ordered online and get to your front door within a few days, or even hours. Online shopping has made it more convenient for people to order online, rather than having to take time out of the day to make a trip to the store for what they need. Although online marketplaces have made it convenient to shop without needing to leave the comfort of your home, online shopping comes with many environmental costs. Online shopping can be done sustainably, but it requires effort and time to make sustainable choices when shopping online. The key to sustainable online shopping is educating and informing yourself about the various aspects that contribute to the environmental impacts of online shopping. The list below has been created to hopefully aid in the online shopping process by providing you with information that can allow you to make choices that are beneficial to you and the environment.

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1. Separate What You Need vs. What You Want

Before buying online, one thing to take into consideration is whether the item you are planning on buying is a need or a want. Needs and wants are very different and it is important to reevaluate whether the item you are looking to purchase is a necessity or whether it is simply desired. By reevaluating the item you are planning on purchasing, you can prevent yourself from making impulsive purchases.

Consider making a list of the items you plan on purchasing and separating them by needs and wants. You can then rank the list based on priority and how important it is to purchase each item on the list. Creating a needs and wants list offers you a way to take inventory of the products you currently own, so as to only purchase the items you truly need.

2. Consider Secondhand Shopping

After you have separated your wants from your needs, consider buying your items used or secondhand. Is the item that you plan on purchasing something that you can buy used or secondhand? If so, there are several websites and resources that sell used or secondhand items. If you are looking to purchase clothes, you can use websites such as ThredUp, Poshmark, and Swap, to name a few.

If the item you plan to purchase is an electronic, a book, or other household items, you can use websites such as eBay, OfferUp, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace to find used items, often at a lower price than buying new. Though websites like OfferUp, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace are not entirely an online process, some sellers may offer shipping for the item for an additional fee. Utilizing these resources can help you find the item you are looking for at a great quality and a cheaper price while preventing used items from going to landfill.

3. Buy from Sustainable & Ethical Companies

If you would like to – or need to – purchase your item new, consider purchasing it from a sustainable and ethical company. Finding out whether a company is sustainable or ethical can be challenging, but luckily there are websites and browser extensions available to help you find and/or identify sustainable and ethical companies.

Whether you are shopping for clothes or other household items, there are several websites that provide company ratings. Good On You and The Good Trade provide sustainable and ethical ratings for all your fashion brand needs, while Ethical Consumer and Fair Trade Certified provide sustainable and ethical ratings for most major companies. Browser extensions like Ethicli or EcoCart are easy to install and provide data on company ethics, sustainability practices, and shipping methods. These websites and extensions can help you decide what companies to consider purchasing from without the hassle of doing research on how sustainable or ethical they are.

4. Avoid Expedited Shipping

Nowadays, when buying online, companies may offer one-day or two-day shipping. Though it may be tempting to get the item you ordered within a day or two, it comes with a cost. By choosing to have your items shipped to you as soon as possible, you are increasing the number of trips delivery trucks need to take to deliver items. This is because companies are not able to fill the trucks to full capacity due to the time constraints of expedited shipping. This ultimately increases the amount of greenhouse gases released due to the increased number of delivery trucks on the road.

By opting out of expedited shipping options, delivery trucks can be filled to max capacity and deliver more orders with fewer trips. This does mean that you won’t receive your order as quickly, but through your compromise, you are reducing the amount of greenhouse gases being released by delivery trucks. If what you are ordering is not time-sensitive or needed right away, consider opting out of those expedited delivery options and choose standard shipping.

5. Investigate Company Packaging Methods

Packaging from online shopping greatly contributes to the waste going into landfills and the oceans. Orders often come in plastic or cardboard boxes that are not always recycled properly. Plastic packaging, especially, may take up to hundreds of years to break down and cause harm to animals that may accidentally consume it.

To reduce this waste when shopping online, try to buy from companies that package their products in plastic-free or compostable packaging. The latter will decompose in a landfill faster than standard plastic and can be added to a home or industrial compost. Finding companies that offer compostable or plastic-free packaging can greatly reduce the amount of waste from online shopping that makes its way to landfills.

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