Re:Amazon is delivering nearly two-thirds of its own packages
by kelnos on Tuesday August 25, 2020 @04:46PM
(#24275900)
I imagine I'm atypical, but if I had to drive somewhere to pick up my online orders, my monthly car trips would go up between one and two orders of magnitude. But I do order a decent quantity of things on Amazon (for non-urgent things I use the "Amazon day" delivery option to help reduce their trips), and generally dislike driving and try to drive as little as possible (1-3 trips per week; pre-covid I could go weeks without driving).
I'd be curious to know what the environmental numbers are for someone like me.
Re:Amazon is delivering nearly two-thirds of its own packages
by abdullahkhalids on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @05:29AM
(#24280726)
You are not accounting for behavior change. Before the online ordering era, most people never went non-grocery shopping more than once a month. And did all that shopping in one big trip.
Once you think decide that all highly environmentally-destructive actions are not even an option on the table, your behavior changes.
it's not a direct answer, but it seems like the answer is that it's essentially never more environmentally friendly to order online, because the odds that it actually eliminates a trip in your car are so tiny.