Buying online while staying green: is it possible?

Amazon, Shein, Zalando, AliExpress... Sound familiar? This is quite normal. E-commerce sites have become a must-have, and have experienced an incredible spike during the pandemic. Indeed, if you stay at home by force, you have no choice but to buy online! But is all this ecological? Buying online while staying green: is it possible?

Problems with online shopping

Online shopping has a lot of qualities: a greater variety of products, comfort for the consumer (who does not have to travel), savings on warehouses, etc. But there are some problems related to it.

Packaging

When you buy online, the product obviously needs to be packaged so that it doesn't get broken/damaged/etc. This packaging can take several forms : a box, a closed paper bag, a plastic pouch... However, some packaging is much more polluting than others. And some companies use a lot more packaging than necessary.

For example, you can receive a simple lipstick wrapped in plastic, received in a small cardboard box, which is itself located in another larger cardboard box. Is there really a need for all these layers of protection for such a small object?

Transport

Depending on the site you buy from, there is a good chance that transport will be necessary to send your purchase. This can be a trip via a truck, a plane, etc. The further away you buy (the United States, China, etc.), the more means of transport the journey will require, which means only one thing: more CO² emissions into the air.

Let's take the example of lipstick. Such a small object could travel thousands of kilometres to reach its destination. Of course, the truck/plane is not going to carry just that lipstick... But, in the end, is all this mobilization of transport really necessary?

Store/Company Standards

Not all companies face climate change in the same way. Some will completely abandon plastic, others will use recycled materials to make their products, some will offset the carbon footprint of the purchase by planting trees... But this is not the case for everyone. A lot of e-commerce sites do not do or do few engaging actions in terms of ethics and the environment.

Manufacture of the garment/object

All objects/clothes have components and materials essential to their manufacture (so far, I don't think I'm shocking anyone). But some materials are more harmful to the environment and health than others.

A Greenpeace study, published in 2012, reported the worrying use of phthalates, nonylphenol ethoxylates and azo dyes (which can be carcinogenic) in a large proportion of fast-fashion clothing. All three are pollutants that are very harmful to the planet, animals and humans.

How can all this be remedied?

Fortunately, there are solutions and alternatives to buying on e-commerce sites (specialized in fast-fashion/new products)! There is a way to buy with sustainability in mind, and this with slow-fashion.

Buy second-hand

Giving new life to clothes/objects that have already been used : there is nothing like it to curb the pollution caused by overconsumption! When possible, buy second-hand/refurbished. This will reduce the waste caused by the overproduction of clothes/objects, knowing that many of them are thrown away or are no longer used only a few months after their first use. No need to produce new clothes/objects again and again if everyone is restocking in this way.

Buy local

In order to avoid the use of transport (and therefore to release CO² unnecessarily), it is better, if possible, to buy local! This will allow the object/garment to travel much fewer kilometers. So, yes, sometimes we would like to buy local, but the desired product can only be found on sites like Amazon and company. In this case, rather than clicking on the first e-commerce site that comes along, do a more in-depth search to first find the sites that sell near you. It will therefore become a reflex, a habit, and you will end up buying in distant countries only the products that you really need and that cannot be found closer.

Check the measures put in place by the company

As mentioned earlier, some companies do not take any action to improve the living conditions of their employees or the environment. Therefore, it is imperative, before each purchase, to check whether the company/brand/store concerned is doing its part of the bargain and is responsible and ethical.

Check the manufacturing conditions

Finally, if we are going to check the ethical actions of companies, we might as well check the way the clothes are made at the same time! Find out about the least polluting materials/materials and focus on clothing/objects that are not harmful to the planet and health.

Basic rules when making an online purchase

In general, to facilitate responsible purchases and stop overconsumption, there are a few tips to follow.

Don't buy too much

Ask yourself a few questions: do I really need this item? How long will I use it? Do I already have an object/garment that performs the same function? Do I need it right away? Adopt the reflex to ask yourself these questions for each purchase. Thus, you will be used to evaluating the relevance of the said purchase, or, on the contrary, judging whether it is useless for your needs.

No uncertain purchase

A small nuance compared to the point above: here, the question to ask yourself is " Am I sure that this is the product I want, and not another one? ". As soon as possible, avoid uncertain purchases. You may regret it, and potentially return the product (resulting in the transport of the latter, therefore more CO² emissions, etc.). As long as you're going to spend, do it once and for good, so you're sure you won't have any regrets and always know what you're buying this product for.

To answer the initial question "Buying online while staying green: is it possible?", the answer is: yes ! It is quite possible to buy online while remaining green. All you have to do is follow the tips mentioned above and adopt them for the long term.

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