We are living in a world where online shopping is becoming a way of life, resulting in a global supply chain that is unable to recover, and our planet is being negatively affected by this practice. Many people believe that online shopping is greener than in-store shopping. Online stores do not require customers to drive anywhere and do not consume electricity as traditional stores do. As items are often delivered to several homes at once, one might believe that the carbon savings must be significant. However, it is much more complex than this. It is not uncommon for home deliveries to fail on the first attempt and for the driver to have to make another or third attempt to deliver the purchase. In addition, consumers who opt for speedy delivery or purchase single items from different places contribute to the increase in carbon footprints. When a customer returns an item, the carbon footprint also increases.

According to a study conducted in Germany, one-third of all online shoppers return at most every tenth purchase, and one in four return 10 to 25 per cent of all purchases. In fact, 14 per cent of online customers return more than 25 per cent of the products they ordered. Similarly, another study estimates that in the United States nearly US$326 million is returned annually, of which 2 billion kilograms eventually end up in landfills due to their inability to be resold, releasing 13 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.The packaging we use for our products also contributes substantially to greenhouse gas emissions from plastic production, polluting ecosystems and increasing landfill waste. According to the forest conservation group Canopy, 3 billion trees are pulped each year to produce 241 million tons of shipping cartons. Not even 14% of the 86 million tons of plastic packaging produced worldwide each year is recycled.

The local group Green Sense estimated that over the course of 2020, 780 million pieces of packaging waste from online shopping would be generated in Hong Kong alone. The study also revealed that each product used 2.18 pieces of packaging on average in the same year, most of which were made of mixed materials that are challenging to recycle. Furthermore, e-commerce generates significant CO2 emissions due to transporting goods across the globe. The shipping and return of goods contributed 37% of total greenhouse gas emissions in 2020. There is a projected growth of 36% in the number of delivery vehicles by 2030, resulting in approximately 7.2 million vehicles. </br> In addition to increasing carbon dioxide emissions by about 6 million tonnes, this will also increase commute times by 21% since there will be longer vehicle travel times due to increased traffic congestion. Although the e-commerce revolution has greatly benefited society, it is important not to ignore the impact it has on the environment.