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BANG FOR THE BITE
In addition to saving you time and crowd-induced 'agita', experts project that by 2007, e-commerce will have saved the energy created by 21 power plants over that time (via less lighting, heating and cooling for retail spaces).
COCKTAIL FACT
Credit cards users tend to spend 20%-30% more than they would if they spent cash.
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home › tip library › Energy-saving Online Shopping
Have you ever actually shopped 'til you dropped?
The Bite
If you shop from home, at least your desk chair will be there to catch you. Online shopping saves energy (your own and the energy that comes from power plants), plain and simple.The Benefits
- No waiting in line and you can shop 24 hours a day. (Please don't actually shop 24 hours a day.)
- Saves energy. Despite their size, e-commerce warehouses use 1/16th of the energy used to operate retail stores.
- Saves transportation energy. Even overnight air shipping uses 40% less fuel than the average car trip to the store.
- Wider selection. If there's a product you can't buy on the internet, we'd be seriously surprised.
- Gifts can be sent directly to the giftee, wrapped and all. Whether it's recycled gift wrap is another question...
Personally Speaking
When Jen lived in Ennis, MT (population: 908), she bought almost everything online and got well-acquainted with the UPS man, who usually dropped by 5 or 6 days a week. Hot men in tight brown shorts? Well, at the time Jen thought that was hot.Wanna Try?
Ideal Bite is kicking off its first annual GREEN TUESDAY program, asking some of its favorite merchants to offer Biter-exclusive discounts (today only!) as alternatives to Black Friday and Cyber-Monday, and shift our consumption to greener pastures...- Bamboosa - made from (what else?) bamboo, we love their apparel. Cute baby stuff, too (15% off with code: GTD).
- Blooming Lotus - everyone on Heather's list is getting their chocolate body polish...sorry to ruin the surprise, HS's BFFs (15% off with code: GreenTuesday).
- BTC Elements - one-stop shop for eco-fashion and accoutrements for your home (15% off with code: idealbite).
- Cocoa Vino - mere words cannot describe their amazing organic bonbons (15% off with code: greentuesday).
- Greene Street Greetings - Jen loves their customizable uber-green greeting cards (20% off with code: IDEAL).
- Grounds for Change - tasty fair trade, organic, shade grown coffee (15% off with code: BT62).
- HER Design - hot handbags for all the ladies on your list (15% off with this link).
- Max Green Alchemy - we've all had great hair days using their products, which contain fewer synthetic chems than the conventional brands (15% off with code: biters).
Nov 28,2006
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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Queen of Online Shopping
Seriously, I am a bit worried about myself. I am wondering if QVC is in my near future. Thing is, I haven't purchased much at all in the last 5 years of my life (since leaving a steady job in NYC, going to grad school, needing to slug along without much of an income as I built a few startups after the green MBA, etc.) So now, I am happy to report that we can pay small salaries at Ideal Bite, and I feel rich!
This weekend as I waited for my friends to come over to pick me up (since I failed to get snow tires in time and it DUMPED here), I entertained myself by picking out an all natural yoga mat from GAIAM, and of course stocked up on some new eco-cleaning products since I will be having more guests come to town, and nothing says "i care about you" more than a clean house, IMHO. (OMG, dude, am I turning into my mom????)
Too bad GAIAM isn't participating in our Green Tuesday, 15% off deal. I would have saved a bundle.
Next year though, we can hopefully get 100+ green online retailers to participate... and hopefully that will convince people to save themselves, their time & money, and the planet next post-Thanksgiving shopping urge.
Off to look for shopaholic therapy... oh, I know how to do that... log into my bank account!- Jen
Biter Comments...
With thanks to the previous blogger, I want to also say that while e-commerce does have benefits, it also can have negative impacts. Depending on their state's laws, many web vendors do not have to pay state or local sales tax, nor give back to the community in other ways. (I know that amazon.com is different from Gaiam, but encouraging people to use only e-commerce for shopping means using the big web vendors too.) In general, very little of the money you spend on e-commerce comes back to your local community, while a significant portion (something like 60 cents on the dollar) of money you spend locally will be recycled into the community through wages, taxes, payment for local services, etc. And that doesn't even cover the other benefits of buying local, which include supporting your neighbors and fostering a true sense of community by showing up.
I'm sure it is true that an environmental benefit of e-commerce is that retailers use less electricity. But there needs to be a balance, remembering that some of those retailers are your neighbors who are struggling to make a living in their small businesses, putting their money back into the local community instead of sending it to e-businesses in other states.
There are ways to lessen the environmental impact of shopping without going completely computer-based, like walking to your neighborhood shops, carpooling with neighbors for local shopping excursions (if you live somewhere that the snow dumps, for example), and encouraging your local retailers to go greener in the ways they run their businesses. They will listen to you if you are there supporting their businesses, but not if you are at home by your computer.
Okay, 'nuff said. Love the daily tips and the site. Happy holidays to all.
i agree with amanda.
i am outraged by this post.
it goes against everything i try to do everyday to sustain and teach communities, to keep neighborhoods alive and everyone vested in their area.
Ok, Ideal Bite is usally right on the money, but I have to disagree today.
Imagine what Bozeman would be like if everyone shopped online. A homogenous town filled with rich second home owners who rallied for affordable housing so they had people to run their gas stations and car dealerships. Remember the movie Best In Show? "We're so lucky we grew up on catelogue shopping!"
Your site could be a good place to promote sustainable communities as well as sustainable purchasing. What's next, promoting NOT eating locally because of the energy it takes to drive to the CSA or Farmer's market?
I understand that living in a small town (Victor, ID) requires a bit of e-commerce. But, it's nice to remind people to support their neighbors who are trying to provide some bit of convenience, vibrance, and balance to your community. Don't let them hang out to dry just because "Cyber Monday" is the new catch phrase. How awful would it be if your dog chewed up your Yoga mat right before an important meet and you didn't have a local store to run and pick one up at?
Ok, that's mean... I'm sorry. I hope you catch my drift.
Thanks,
Scott
I agree with everybody here so far. There are already too many forces conspiring to wipe out local businesses in America. I'm not eager to add to that problem.
So I'll think even harder now before I choose an online retailer. If I can't find what I'm looking for locally, maybe I don't need it in the first place.
This is another aspect to the retail versus sustainability paradox that hurts my head!
I'm all for becoming a local "expert", as Biomimicry and systems such as Natural Capitalism advocate. While valuing this Ideal (mostly based on all of the factors the above posters cite), I'm at the conclusion that...assuming we do live in a "Flat World" ala Friedman where we compete with India, China and emerging nations for manufacturing, product and employment opportunities...I believe that Sustainability must function in a Flat World too.
The best examples...Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Global Warming. No longer do we face environmental issues (relatively) easily addressable face-to-face in local communities, i.e., the polluted local river,
Just as the world's become again Flat through technology, globalization and seamless interconnection...our environmental issues have done the same. From the polluted local water source, we now face what McKibben labeled "The End Of Nature." That fierce storms, raindrops and beautiful sunny afternoons no longer are natural things that invoke wonder, awe and humility. And nevermind the consequences of genetic engineering to ideas like Wilderness or Natural Preservation.
So while I love the idea of a Grameen Bank, Power-of-Individual-Action-Locally Approach on a local level, I'd argue we're at a point where acting only locally won't reverse our global path of ecological degradation and destruction. So as much as walking to the local store for my groceries or Christmas presents appeals to my inner environmentalist, a more pragmatic element of me would advocate buying the indigenous products of Amazonia in an effort to preserve biodiversity, prevent habitat loss and encourage social equity world-wide.
Sorry for the rant, but I'd appreciate any thoughts on my rambling as I don't see any answer other than supporting both local businesses and those living sustainability globally!
I guess my only point is that in a Flat World, Sustainability's not as easy as staying local.
So maybe include both local and online retailers next year? :)
Think of how awesome it would be for the "green" online community to buy from your local retailer as often as you do. Kinda of "the world acting to strengthen YOUR local community" sorta thing.
everything helps - if you can get more green retailers to participate - WOOT!
maybe combine with easy homemade gift ideas, like recipes for making bath sea salts, patterns for lingerie sachets, etc...
I agree that the issue isn't as simple as "local vs online."
I believe in buying things produced in my home state of NC, but that doesn't mean I've sworn off wild-caught salmon, or any other products of which part or whole isn't a local ingredient. If a retailer has a mission of sustainability that I want to support, the fact that they don't happen to be located where I am doesn't change my mind.
Not all Biters are lucky enough to live in cities, states, or countries where the local shops carry Bamboosa, or Max Green Alchemy, or Blooming Lotus. Some retailers are even (gasp!) online-only. They may also have a product I believe is unique and can’t get locally.
If you are lucky enough to have a locally owned/operated store selling castile-based, SLS/DEA/paraben-free shampoo, then you have the choice of buying it there. Not everyone does. And to be sure, some shoppers’ only nearby green stores are Whole Foods—not exactly the struggling, funky mecca of the romanticized “buy local” vision.
I doubt that these small, online niche stores are doing as much to crowd out the equally small shops as big-box discount outlets like Wal-Mart.
Wow, I guess I can comment on all points of view here as a new, small, local business that also has an e-commerce site. First, as a new business, I can completely relate to Jen's comment about not doing much shopping lately. There will be no money to pay out salaries here as of yet, but when I do need to shop, I always try to support the local businesses around me. But I also think that e-commerce gives small businesses a tremendous opportunity that they didn't have before. Starting a business is extremely risky and the Internet provides a great outlet for "testing the waters", so to speak, before taking the plunge. And let's not forget that there are many great sites like Etsy that provide an endless array of homemade products.
I think the real issue here is simply to remember your values whenever you're making a purchase, whether it be online or in your neighborhood. As the previous poster commented, if the retailer has a mission you want to support, the medium shouldn't matter.
A new store is opening here in Media, PA (which, by the way, is the first official Fair Trade town in the U.S.!) called "Ten Thousand Villages". They promote fair trade. Is anyone familiar with this store? I'm looking forward to checking it out...
I simply want to express my gratitutde for your Green Tuesday offer. I certainly do believe in shopping where you live and supporting small businesses in the community. On the other hand, I suffer from a serious chronic illness and can barely manage to work the 30 necessary hours a week to maintain health benefits and a roof over my head. Without catalogs and internet shopping, my life would be a lot more difficult and my friends and family would not get imaginative (and socially responsible) gifts from me. I was delighted to take advantage of your Green Tuesday offer to purchase Chocolate Rose Body Polish and two other lovely soaps from Blooming Lotus at a 15% discount. Keep up the great work; I always look forward to my emails from you!--Catherine
Thanks for the thoughts. I guess that's my thought...that the environmentalist's natural law to "shop local" no longer carries the weight of sustainable "gravity" in a Flat World.
And taking C2C to its logical end means the plane you fly actually cleanses the air around it, removes CO2, or whatever simultaneously with bringing you to wherever you're going.
I suppose my other point is that the theory towards achieving "Zero", pushing to minimize, reduce, and slow environmental and human degradation falls short of what even non-environmentalists would universally agree as what's right. I mean, nobody I know would agree that poisoning yourself, friends, family and even community a little less fast or somewhat more slowly is a good thing, yet that's the end our regulations currently work to achieve.
This whole retail versus sustainability thing seems to require a completely different premise, something close to Cradle to Cradle's most far out vision. I just can't get past the seemingly inevitable fact that, because we're not even close to the car that purifies the environment or whatever, that the right answer now is to not consume anything unnecessary.
That's way beyond "light" green, and not the answer that'll transform a market...thus, the headache!
I agree with a lot of the reponses, I live in the same town as Jen and I try to buy as much as I can from locally owned retailers. I have been told that the money you spend gets spent 7 times over again in that community. Where as shopping at The Home Depot who knows where that money goes?
I love on-line shopping - saves gas, time, my feet and back. Yes, the UPS and FedEx guys have to work and their trucks use up gas - but I think of it like mass transportation - there are so many packages on that truck and I'm on the route.
Anyway...the only thing I like more than on-line shopping is getting "paid" to do it. Go to the shopping portal www.spree.com and sign up. Then do your shopping through the spree.com website. Each vendor gives a certain percentage cash-back to people who buy through Spree.
I just got a check for $25.67 from Spree for a little bit of shoe and garden shopping I did this summer. Last February, I got a $97 check for Christmas shopping. It all adds up.
There is NOTHING better than getting a check in the mail. So check out www.spree.com.
To follow up on my previous post, Spree is happy to sign up any vendor with an on-line presence - including local businesses. And no, I don't work for them - but a high school friend does. I'm really glad she turned me on to Spree, simply because I don't have a lot of money.
BTW, I live in a town that has cute funky shops and a vibrant downtown, and I shop there all the time. But for computers or rugs or heavy items I just can't carry by myself (having a spine disorder), on-line works for me. Can't we do both?
Around the winter holidays I found myself wondering about the impact of all the FedEx and UPS truck traffic delivering all those packages. I never thought that the truck would make the same route whether my package was on it or not. I suppose there is some savings for me to stay home and order on line and let UPS do the driving. But I tend to order more on line than I need. And often, its not exactly right so I have to send it back or return it myself. Plus, what about the energy of all the computers we suddenly are using all day? And the environmental impact of producing and delivering a new one every 3-6 years when they seem to stop working or become obsolete? I know the information and consumption highways are going to be running full whether I like it or not, but I wonder... can the Earth support EVERYONE'S ability to sit at their laptop late at night ordering more stuff?
Online shopping is a very convenient for people who have very busy job schedules.You can find various online shopping portals which help these consumers to buy their daily needs online.I do prefer online shopping than off line shopping coz it saves my time.I am a resident of india and I have found some few sites here like www.storrz.com which sells groceries online.It's the only
online shopping portal which sells groceries online and their service is pretty good.Because of their good service i thought of specifying it here.
Internet is an easy tool that places huge information at your fingertips. With a click of a mouse, it lets you purchase an airline ticket, book a hotel, send greeting or flowers to a friend, buy electronic gadgets also or buy your preferred stock. Beneficial deals, convenience & choices abound on the Internet.
However, online shopping business needs strong internet marketing to get into top results in search engines so that your audience can find them.
Thanks,
Sj
http://www.semaphore-software.com
i agree with amanda.
i am outraged by this post.
it goes against everything i try to do everyday to sustain and teach communities, to keep neighborhoods alive and everyone vested in their area.
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Queen of online shopping is quite the title! I stopped buying products at local stores a long time ago (except for groceries) :) Instead I buy from coupons site that are all over the web. If you search for jewelry coupons you'll get a great site that has coupons for jtv.com jtv coupons. That is just an example, otherwise amazon.com is amazing, itunes, shopping.com, buy.com.., the list is endless!!
Queen of online shopping is quite the title! I stopped buying products at local stores a long time ago (except for groceries) :) Instead I buy from coupons site that are all over the web. If you search for jewelry coupons you’ll get a great site that has coupons for jtv.com
jtv coupons. That is just an example, otherwise amazon.com is amazing, itunes, shopping.com, buy.com.., the list is endless!!
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Good luck in your venture. I dont do much online shopping anymore either, seriously, its the lazy way out. I still like the buzz of shopping in the high street.
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Posted by: Amanda | November 28, 2006 at 07:48 AM