Shopping in the store or online: What does the carbon footprint say?

The study "The Greening of Online Retailing." commissioned by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA) in Germany looked at the greenhouse gas emissions of online retailing. It compares different shopping variants - stationary and online. A shopping trip of 5 km in one's own car, for example, generates 600 to 1100 g of CO2, while a shopping trip by bicycle emits 0 g of CO2. A delivery by online service generates between 200 and 400 g of CO2 on average. The lower emissions compared to driving in one's own car are due in part to better vehicle utilization, the efficient design of delivery routes and the increasing use of electric vehicles. The most important Climate protection-In stationary retail, energy consumption on site and the customer's choice of transport are the main factors. In online retailing, the most environmentally damaging factors are shipping packaging waste and the delivery section to the door, the so-called "last mile.

Lack of environmental information in online retailing

Another UBA-Study ("Promoting sustainable consumption through digital product information.") shows that environmental seals have so far been insufficiently represented in online retailing. Information on repairability and availability of updates is also usually not available. These features - unlike the price or the design - therefore often play only a subordinate role in the purchase decision, as the UBA writes. One exception is the energy consumption label, as it is required by law. The UBA therefore recommends introducing a mandatory statement on the manufacturer's warranty as well as parameters on the average service life of the products. Existing labels such as the EU Ecolabel or the Blue Angel should be displayed directly in the product information, and this information should also be integrated into price comparison and sales platforms.

Problem packaging waste

More environmental protection is also possible in shipping packaging. Many products, for example, can be shipped in their original packaging without damage - without additional shipping packaging.

Reusable packaging that is returned empty by customers also makes sense. According to the study, a total of between 180,000 and 370,000 tons of packaging waste could be saved each year in the mail order sector. This corresponds to a reduction of 22 to 45 percent. In the area of logistics, the use of electric vehicles or bicycles for delivery offers great potential, as does the use of packing stations for efficient delivery, according to the UBA. Consumers could also improve their environmental footprint by buying environmentally friendly products, avoiding frequent returns when shopping online and specifically requesting reusable systems or dispensing with shipping packaging. "It doesn't always have to be a new purchase. Often, good used equipment or a loan or rental is a good alternative - especially for products that you rarely use anyway such as a drill, lawn mower or hedge trimmer. Repairing seemingly defective household appliances can also often avoid buying a new one," says UBA President Dirk Messner.

Further information: The present data are the first results of the research project "Greening Online Commerce". The data on CO2 or CO2e (CO2 equivalents) emissions come from various life cycle assessment studies and were compiled in the project and partly calculated by the UBA itself, as the UBA writes. The data on packaging waste are from the GVM database. The data on environmentally related product information from the report "Promoting sustainable consumption through digital product information" was partly collected by UBA or also comes from the literature cited in the report.

Source: Federal Environment Agency