Is Buy.com Friendlier To The Environment Than Brick And Mortar Stores?
A study by the Green Design Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh states that when comparing getting a flash drive from Buy.com versus a physical retailer, Buy.com ends up being about 30% less damaging to the environment. To reach their conclusion, the researchers compared transportation, packaging, warehousing, and energy usage both by the consumer and the retailer.
It's important to note that Buy.com is a member of the Green Design Institute, and while they didn't fund this particular research, they have contributed money to a general research fund—so take the report with a grain of salt. And since Buy.com doesn't use warehouses, it's hard to apply the results to an e-tailer like Amazon.com. Sandy Bauers on Phill.com writes,
So this isn't an ironclad dictum. I view it more as information to factor in, measuring my circumstances against their statistical average: someone who drives 7.5 miles to a store in a car that gets 22.5 miles per gallon and picks up one or two items.
So if I'm in my Prius and I'm only going to detour a mile out of my way to stop at King of Prussia Mall on my way home, I'm good to go.
But not long ago I considered driving to a York County nursery to get a special dwarf fig tree for my edible landscaping plan. Scratch that. I'll order online instead.
Meanwhile, there's one more variable. The researchers concluded the best way to make either system more efficient was simply to buy more.
"GreenSpace: E-tail or retail kinder to Earth? They did the math" [Philly.com]
(Photo: McPig)
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+2
and yet you guys missed the story about Buy.com's wasteful packaging which I tipped:
@Blinky987: Yup, great post, love online shopping. Cheaper prices too on stuff that I would have bought anyways. The retail stores selections of games and movies are so abysmal here that I couldn't even imagine being a gamer without online shopping. I would say 95% of my video game purchases are made online. The few that are not made online are usually purchased with gift cards that I received as a gift or won in a contest for nothing.
You do have to exert self control, which I do. I usually wait for items to drop in price before spending, unless its an extremely rare occasion.
@Blinky987: I love online shopping as well, but your post made me consider something: yes, being forced to interact with annoying people whilst shopping isn't fun, but is removing oneself from said annoying people really beneficial in the long run? Interacting with people different from yourself fosters tolerance, and people who live in more urban environments are notably more socially accepting. Removing physical interaction from a lot of life's daily activities could work to foster more isolation and social intolerance in the long run.
Lets put aside all the buy.com marketing "my green' bull shit!
Buy.com kills more trees to box up the product, in much larger box than what is needed. Then UPS drives there very large carbon polluting truck up the Ingram warehouse to transport than item to there hub (emitting carbon again), puts it on the UPS carbon polluting 747 plane, then back to a very large truck again, then to the end user.
There is nothing green about what BUY.COM doing!
It's just anything marketing gimmicks.
Maybe Al Gore will promote you, just send him a few million, anything is possible.
@Blinky987: Post of the week (IMO)
Seriously, I love online retailing because of all the lings listed. I do like actual B&M shopping as well since you get that instant gratification of seeing and feeling the item.
Beware the 15% restocking fee. It is NOT easy to get returns done at Buy (in comparison to other online retailers).
@Darrone: ++ eleventy billion. Recently purchased a wireless network card and notebook battery (two different vendors). Battery was priced around $120, the card $25. Turns out I didn't need either. After numerous rounds of unresponded emails and phone calls to both vendor and Buy, laboring under the threat of THEIR draconian return policies, I returned both items, after 20% restock and eating UPS shipping both ways, I am out almost $60 on a $150 transaction. That sucks. Hard.
You know what I used to do when I didn't have a car? Shop at Safeway.com (a grocery store). It was AMAZING. $6-10 or so for delivery (about a cab ride), and I got free delivery like once a month. The best part was being able to create a shopping car and see EXACTLY what you are spending, and exactly what you are buying. I NEVER overspent.
When I shop at Safeway, I sometimes still use the online shopping cart, and print it out. That way I have a shopping list with pictures and prices! Every once in a while you'll come across something that isn't in stock or whatever, but it's easy to substitute.
@batsy: I'm thinkin' that most people in day to day life have to deal with plenty of undesirable people -- at work, in line at the coffee shop, at the grocery store, whatever -- and I seriously doubt that avoiding shopping for jeans in store is suddenly going to shelter you from the assholes of the world.
@nakedscience: It's not just shopping that's gone online, it's a whole shit ton of stuff. And more things are soon to follow. While the convenience is great, it makes you wonder about how beneficial it is in the long run. There's nothing wrong with considering the long-term aspects of various innovations. I'm generally all for technological advances, it's just something interesting to think about. Nothing bad ever comes from exercising the ol' brain. :)
I've used Buy.com a few times without any incident. I got the item for the price I wanted, and the mail-in rebate even worked (though I did follow the suggestions learned on this site).
I love online retailers. I love getting value for my cash, and I love honoring retailers that I feel do a great job. I spend more money than anybody should on Amazon buying media since movies and music are pretty important to me. I always get what I want at the price I want and get it quickly. I'd buy clothes there too if I could, but I actually have to leave the house for that because every company's size is different.
Online, I never have to deal with some asshole employee who knows less about the product than I do, especially when I'm spending thousands of dollars on some electronic item. I never have to wait in line behind some dolt who can't figure out how a transaction works or who insists on using a checkbook like it's 1957. I never have to take lip from some dude who thinks salary = intelligence and that I should be impressed by his position of RETAIL STORE MANAGER, even if he makes 75k a year.
Online is a magical land where all those people who are inches away from being a burden upon my simple life are gone, all replaced by a "click to buy" button that never gets out of control because I exert self-control and discipline. So great.