The negative impacts of express shipping
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The desire for instant gratification and immediate needs often leaves express shipping as the only viable option. However, this reliance on speedy delivery services contributes to increased carbon emissions and is detrimental to the climate.
Did you know that express shipping can have negative impacts on the environment for several reasons:
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Increased Carbon Emissions: Express shipping often involves faster modes of transportation like airplanes, which emit more carbon dioxide per mile compared to other modes like trucks or ships. These emissions contribute to climate change and air pollution.
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Less Efficient Routing: Express shipping may prioritise speed over efficiency, leading to less optimal routing of packages. This can result in increased distances traveled and more fuel consumption.
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Packaging Waste: To ensure items arrive quickly and safely, express shipments may be packaged with additional materials, such as bubble wrap or foam padding, which generate more waste.
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Overnight Delivery Culture: The demand for express shipping encourages a culture of instant gratification and impulsive consumption, leading to more frequent and smaller shipments, which are less efficient than consolidated deliveries.
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Resource Intensive Infrastructure: Maintaining the infrastructure needed for express shipping, such as airports and distribution centers, requires significant resources and can have environmental consequences, such as habitat destruction and land degradation.
Inefficient routes don't just result in higher carbon emissions; they also incur greater expenses for the shipper. When fast delivery appears free, it's often because the retailer is absorbing the cost to stay competitive in a rapidly expanding market. This means consumers aren't fully aware of the real environmental or financial impact of receiving their e-commerce orders rapidly.
Overall, while express shipping provides convenience and speed, its environmental impact should be considered, and efforts should be made to minimise these effects through measures like optimising routes, using more fuel-efficient transportation modes, and promoting sustainable packaging practices.
How does Novella Gifts handle express shipping?
Although we understand people do forget birthdays and important events and need to get their products sent urgently, we do encourage our customers to opt for standard shipping as far as possible. At Novella Gifts you will have 100% sustainable packaging, carbon neutral shipping (if standard shipping is chosen) and products made sustainable. Plus, a tree is planted with each order! Find out in more detail about Novella Gifts and Sustainability
Remember, choosing standard shipping over express can significantly reduce your carbon footprint! 🌿