What is Eco-friendly Shipping?
The E-commerce industry has been booming for the past few years. Online shopping has grown incredibly popular because of how convenient it is for consumers. But this convenience usually comes at an environmental cost. The global supply chain is a massive contributor to pollution, and online shoppers are aware of that. This is a significant issue for online retailers, especially in the age of responsible consumerism, where sustainable businesses receive more support.
Eco-friendly logistics aim to provide E-commerce companies with shipping methods that satisfy environmentally conscious consumers. With eco-friendly shipping, people are able to have their products delivered without contributing to pollution. It’s important to remember that there is a difference between eco-friendly shipping and green shipping. Green shipping refers to the use of more environmentally friendly methods of delivering a package. Eco-friendly shipping takes this mentality a step further. An eco-friendly shipping process optimizing every step of the shipping process to be more sustainable. This includes everything from packaging to delivery.
How Can E-commerce Businesses Implement Eco-Friendly Shipping and Be Sustainable?
To begin making your logistics more sustainable, you need to analyze your current shipping method. This will help you identify what specific part of the process needs to be optimized the most. The section of the logistics process that needs to be optimized most will depend on the kind of business you run. For instance, a company that ships a large volume of products will reduce its environmental impact most effectively by reducing the amount of packaging they use. Alternatively, companies that ship a small volume of large packages may get more benefit from a different optimization. Here are some of the different ways you can make your E-commerce business greener to consider.
Train Your Personnel
In order for your business to effectively transition to an eco-friendly shipping model, you’ll need to ensure everyone is on the same page. One of the most effective ways of doing this is by training your personnel on sustainable logistics practices. Doing so will guarantee that every employee understands the importance of eco-friendly shipping.
It is usually a good idea to start from the top when training your staff to be more sustainable. This is because leadership positions in a business generally set the tone of the company. Whenever lower-level employees feel lost you can trust that they’ll look to the company’s senior positions for some direction. A leadership development consultant can help you train your executives to be more effective leaders. Investing in your leaders gives the rest of your staff someone they can rally behind and trust. This goes a long way in determining the success of any business project.
Optimal and Sustainable Packaging
Many E-commerce businesses go over the top when wrapping their products in protective packaging. While this is an admirable effort, it also contributes to the massive amount of physical waste we produce. Companies have two options to reduce the impact their packaging has on the environment. They can either reduce the amount of packaging used or switch to more sustainable packaging materials.
Reducing the amount of packaging used is the easiest way to reduce the amount of physical waste your company produces. Additionally, it is also one of the most cost-effective methods of reducing waste because you’ll actually save money by using less packaging. Your company might also be able to speed up its packaging process because less time will be spent wrapping products.
If your company has already taken steps to reduce the amount of packaging it uses, then it may be time to consider more sustainable materials. Traditional packaging is still an environmental concern even if we use the bare minimum amount of packaging required to keep a product safe. This is because the plastics used to seal packages can take years to decompose once they’re thrown away. Investing in packaging that decomposes faster will have a lower impact on the environment.
Ship Items in Bulk
The fuel used to move products across the globe is one of the largest contributors to air pollution. Unfortunately, we don’t have many green transportation solutions that are able to operate on a global scale. Until a new delivery method revolutionizes the logistics industry, our only option is to optimize our delivery processes. Luckily though, the logistics industry has plenty of room for optimization. For instance, many businesses could ship their products in larger groups to reduce the amount of empty space in shipping containers. This will allow logistics companies to move more products in a single trip.
Partner With Eco-friendly Carriers
There are eco-friendly carrier options for E-commerce companies that are dedicated to sustainability. These carriers are able to deliver your products in a timely manner with less contribution to pollution. For instance, DHL is a member of the GoGreen initiative and has upgraded its vehicles to be more aerodynamic. This allows the delivery vehicles to use less fuel than their competitors.