Eco-Friendly Ecommerce

Taking care of the planet has always been something that society cares about. Over the past few years, companies and their customers have been working together to make a positive environmental impact. With the ease of online shopping and new, innovative products hitting shelves daily, there is a lot of waste from packaging and shipping. With Earth Day coming up, now is a great time to evaluate your company’s impact on the environment and see if there are any changes you can make to keep our plant clean and beautiful.

Why Is Sustainability Important?:

With the ease of online shopping, customers are ordering more than ever. Every time they get a package, they have to deal with the trash that comes with it. Packaging peanuts, cardboard boxes, plastic covering, and more all have to go somewhere after the customer is done opening their box. While it is important to insure that your customers get their products without any damage, all of that packaging getting thrown away can make a serious negative impact on the planet. Additionally, having to ship products creates more carbon emissions. Figuring out ways that you can cut back on packing and shipping while still delivering products in a timely manner, even in small ways, can create a huge positive impact.

How To Cut Back:

One of the easiest answers is to not add any more packaging than you need to. If you usually add in fun surprises for you customers to make their packages fun to open, like a little pouch or stickers, consider adding an “eco friendly” option to allow them to opt out of little extras. Choose your packaging sizes based on the size on the of the product, instead of shipping out a big box for one small product. Offering free shipping after customers spend a certain amount is not only an incentive for them to purchase more from you, but will help cut back on packaging as well as carbon emissions by a single delivery, rather than several.

When choosing materials to ship your items with, try to use products that are easy to recycle or repurpose. Flimsy plastic is a popular choice to wrap products with, but doesn’t break down easily and is most likely going to sit in a landfill. Some companies are finding ways to repurpose old plastic by turning them into items such as workout clothes, shoes, blankets, and more. This is a fantastic example of how we can recycle creatively, but cutting down on plastic waste in the first place will help our planet even more.

Why Should I Cut Back?:

Besides the obvious point that we need to take care of the earth to continue to survive on it, being sustainable can be a big asset to your brand. Surprisingly, you could actually save money by changing to more eco-friendly ways. Using a lot of packaging will cost you more money in materials and shipping. By cutting back, not only are you helping save the planet but you get to keep more of your hard-earned money. On the other hand, you want to make sure that you use enough packaging to protect your products. Delivering a product that is damaged will not only frustrate your customers, but will cause another delivery with more packaging and carbon emissions which ends up being worse for the environment. Becoming more eco-friendly can also help boost your sales as customers are becoming more conscious of brands whose values align with their own, and purchasing from them. Studies have shown that millennial shoppers especially are more likely to purchase from brands who they agree with. Add a section on your website or packaging to let your customers know what you are doing to make a positive impact. Companies like Ecology Packaging make it easy to ship sustainability and let customers know that you’re making an effort.

Even making small changes to your business can make a big impact in keeping our earth clean and healthy. With so many companies taking an active interest in saving the planet, you’ll be in good company when you switch to more sustainable practices. What are some things that you do you, or plan on doing, to help the environment? Let us know in the comments!