# Air pollution: E-commerce’s sustainability problem that isn’t the cardboard box

*Published:* 2019-07-22
*Author:* EDF Blogs

**[Aileen Nowlan](https://www.edf.org/people/aileen-nowlan), *Senior Manager*, EDF+Business**

[This post originally appeared on EDF+Business](http://business.edf.org/blog/2019/07/16/meet-e-commerces-sustainability-problem-that-isnt-the-cardboard-box).

With the click of a button, our groceries, clothes, personal care products, household items – just about anything – could arrive on our doorsteps in a neatly packaged cardboard box. It’s convenience, delivered. But at what cost?

What happens behind-the-scenes to get a package delivered to your door is taking a toll on our planet and our health. Freight is the [fastest growing source](https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fast-facts-transportation-greenhouse-gas-emissions) of greenhouse gases and a major source of local air pollution. The rise in e-commerce is a growing part of increased pollution and poor air quality.

The truth is, “free shipping” isn’t really free. We’re just paying for it in other ways.

**More packages means more trucks, more trucks means more pollution**

If you were to ask someone what the number one environmental issue facing e-commerce was, chances are they’d say packaging. This makes sense – boxes are piling up in landfills and they are generating an [enormous amount of waste](https://abc7chicago.com/society/online-shipping-boom-creates-massive-cardboard-footprint-from-boxes/5302139/). But another equally as important issue is worsening air pollution caused by long-distance shipping and last mile delivery moved by trucks. The problem is, air quality is a difficult issue to grasp given that it’s invisible to the eye. Nonetheless, it’s a growing challenge and it needs to be solved.

To better understand the air pollution problem, let’s break down the process of an online order. In a very abbreviated version, the order is placed, the product is packaged in the warehouse, it’s prepared for shipping and it’s sent out for delivery, chances are via a truck. Now multiply that process by  ***1.92 billion*** – the number of people who will buy something online this year – and imagine the transportation required to deliver all those orders.

Pollution caused by increased traffic is degrading our air quality, posing as a health risk for all of us. And, some groups are unfairly suffering the consequences more so than others.

- First, more children are battling [asthma](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(19)30046-4/fulltext);
- Second, the majority of people are purchasing more products, but Black and Hispanic communities are [disproportionately inhaling ](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/03/11/702348935/study-finds-racial-gap-between-who-causes-air-pollution-and-who-breathes-it)the pollution; and
- Third, [rural communities](https://www.ssti.us/2018/12/ecommerce-fulfillment-centers-increasing-freight-pollution-congestion-in-rural-towns/) are experiencing the highest growth in pollution and congestion.

So, suddenly the process behind getting a package to us – something we never thought twice about – is now an issue that we should all be concerned about.

**The solution to the problem?**

Fortunately, business can help clean the air by investing in zero-emissions shipping.

Take Etsy for example. Earlier this spring, after realizing that shipping is responsible for 98% of their carbon impact, the company announced[ zero emissions shipping](https://web.archive.org/web/20221006061350/https://www.fastcompany.com/90311622/etsy-just-became-the-first-global-ecommerce-company-to-offset-all-of-its-shipping-emissions), which it plans on meeting by purchasing offsets, with projects including wind power generation, forest protection and devising auto components that pollute less.

Etsy isn’t alone. IKEA has also [committed](https://www.ikea.com/us/en/about_ikea/newsitem/091318-IKEA-group-zero-emissions-targets-home-delivery-2020) to zero-emissions home delivery. FedEx and Ryder just teamed up to get [1000 electric vans](https://www.fleetowner.com/running-green/ryder-orders-1000-chanje-electric-vehicles-fedex) on the road. Now Amazon, the largest online retailer, plans to eventually make all shipments[ carbon neutral](https://web.archive.org/web/20230729083008/http://www.fastcompany.com/90309906/how-amazon-plans-to-make-half-of-its-shipments-carbon-neutral-by-2030) and is aiming for half of its shipments to meet that goal by 2030.

Online retailers can also [provide incentives](http://business.edf.org/blog/2016/03/12/lets-stop-pitting-in-store-vs-online-shopping-both-need-to-up-their-sustainability) to customers to encourage them to choose less impactful delivery options. The difference between four to five day shipping versus two-day or overnight can have an impact.

Combating air pollution requires all businesses to incorporate zero-emissions shipping into part of their strategy, on account of our planet, and our health.