The way we shop makes a huge difference to our carbon footprint. Our shopping impacts on levels of deforestation, the destruction of ecosystems for raw materials, and the amount of carbon emissions from transporting throughout the supply chain and when it is finally dumped somewhere after use. Changing how we shop is essential to get to Net Zero by 2050.

Today we have the option of having our groceries delivered to us instead of going to the high street. But if we want to reduce our carbon footprint, is it better to do our weekly shopping online and get it delivered to us, or should we make the effort to shop ourselves at the supermarket? It depends on vehicles, location and how much you are buying.

What the research says

Research by Professor Bernes-Lee (2020) compared different ways of shopping and calculated CO₂ emissions in a variety of routes:

40g CO₂e for a supermarket shop by electric bike

150g CO₂e for a supermarket delivery by electric van

450g CO₂e for a supermarket delivery by diesel van

1kg CO₂e if you drive yourself in an average petrol car

In most scenarios, buying online from a supermarket and getting it delivered to you is better than going to the shops yourself, but this depends on two things: the vehicle used for transport and where you live.

It depends on the vehicle used for transport

Carbon emissions are lowest if you go to the supermarket with an electric bike. But this is not the case if you drive by car. The research shows it multiplies emissions twenty-five times over in comparison to an electric bike. Carbon emissions are saved from doing online shopping regardless of the vehicle compared to the driving to the shops. Why is this the case? A delivery van from your supermarket will save multiple car journeys because they deliver shopping to lots of houses in one trip. This takes cars off the road and reduces carbon emissions created by shopping trips. If the delivery van is electric rather than diesel, this will more than halve the emissions created by the journey. Shopping in the supermarket in person usually means people will use their car to drive there and back. The more individual journeys, the more cars on the road.

It depends where you live

There are couple of exceptions when it is better to shop in person instead of relying on online delivery. If you live in a remote place, this will increase the length of the journeys by delivery vans. If delivery vans need to make an extra long journey to deliver to your home, it reduces the efficiency of delivering to multiple homes in a local area. The mode of transport used to travel to and from shops matters as well. If you travel by public transport, cycle or walk to and from the shops, this is better than a delivery van, even if it is electric. The carbon emissions of these journeys are very low and are the best way to do shopping.

Other factors to think about when shopping

Whether you buy online or go physically to the store, there are three factors that will always have a positive impact on the way you are shopping.

Buying less: the less products you buy, the less carbon emissions you create. Every item involves taking resources from environment, using energy to produce an item and for transport, and then finally disposing of into the environment. At every stage, emissions are being produced and the environment suffers the more we buy.

Using things for longer: focus on buying durable goods that last a long time and do not need to be replaced often. This is particularly true of clothing and avoid fast fashion which has a terrible effect on the planet.

Repairing them when they break: when you repair broken items, such as clothes or electronic goods, you extend the life of the product and there is less need to buy another product to replace them. This prevents them from ending up on landfill and harming the environment. If you are not good at repairing things, what can you do instead? There are Repair Cafes everywhere, that are popping up all over the world. At Repair Cafes, volunteers fix all types of items for free. To find one near you, you can go onto their website www.repaircafe.org/ to see where they are located.

Source: ‘How bad are bananas?’ by Professor Mike Bernes-Lee