With the surge of big-tech, it feels as though speed is the most sought after trait in today’s world. Whether it be a faster car or sharper wifi—the more bytes per minute the better.
Consumption is no exception, with delivery companies obsessed with decreasing shipment times. Amazon, the nation's largest delivery business, went as far as to coin its exclusive membership with the slogan “It’s on Prime,” insinuating that the most coveted asset of the delivery service is its timing and speed of delivery.
This phenomenon is sought after nationwide. Amazon has contributed over 10 trillion dollars to the U.S. GDP since 2010. Accordingly, Amazon delivers an average of 12 million packages a day and employs over 275,000 drivers. Everyday reliance on delivery isn’t just a trend or random societal hyper-fixation—over 98 million users access Amazon at least once every month.
Behind each online order we make, in order for the package to arrive at our doorstep, we are essentially adding unnecessary cardboard packaging and producing excess CO2 emissions. These are ultimately made more problematic when taking into account recent increase in consumption per capita and the physical consequences experienced by delivery drivers due to their immense workload.
This can all be boiled down to what has now been coined as “overconsumption,” the term refers specifically to “excessive consumption of goods and services that cause detrimental effects to humans and/or the environment.” People can’t seem to get enough of Amazon, but such extremity—our means of consumption—comes with similarly extreme implications on the environment.
Looking solely at the added cardboard associated with packages and deliveries, data shows that packaging accounts for 40% of the planet’s plastic waste. Waste that could quite literally not exist, if people wouldn’t order online. To put that into perspective, the combined length of the air pillows (inflatable bags; alternative to bubble wrap) used in Amazon packages in a single year would be enough to circle the Earth 500 times.
Besides the increase in packaging materials, one might assume that the shift from in person to online shopping would be better for the environment. Instead of each individual driving to the store, a smaller number of drivers make the commute instead. So, less people driving equals less emissions, equals a better climate—well, not exactly.
The main issue is the accessibility of online shopping which has resulted in a dramatic increase in consumption. Now that you can purchase anything you could possibly think of in under 10 seconds, people are purchasing more than ever before. Not only is there no need for these amounts, but it's actually impossible for those consuming at these rates to be able to use all of these products. The fashion industry alone has increased its sales by over 400% since the beginning of the 2000s, with 80 billion new garments purchased per year. Moreover, the average number of times a garment is worn has declined by around 36% in the last 15 years—leading to an average of 85% of all textiles ending up in landfills each year.
Perhaps the most misleading element of online shopping is the notion that anything unwanted can be returned. In reality, return policies act as a sort of “band aid” that make us think we aren’t actually being wasteful, when in fact, we very much are. The carbon dioxide cost of returns in the United States is estimated to equal that of 3 million cars. Even so, the carbon emissions caused by returns is only the beginning of the problem. Specialists estimate that only half of the items returned will be resold while the other 50% landing directly in landfills around the world.
Not only are the ramifications of online shopping detrimental to the environment, but they have severe consequences for those working in shipping. In December 2024, thousands of Amazon-affiliated delivery workers from various states, including New York, went on strike. The main basis of the strike included extreme working conditions due to workload and unfair wages. This seems to be a company precedent with a study dating back to 2021, showing that nearly 1 in 5 Amazon delivery drivers were injured on the job.
So what can we make of all of this? Seemingly, minimizing deliveries from companies such as Amazon, would be a “win, win, win” situation: A win for the environment, a win for your wallet, and a win for the upwards of 275,000 daily delivery drivers. Our obsession with speed and efficiency is doing irreversible damage to the planet and the people currently occupying it, most of which could be diminished if we simply take a moment to consider the effects of our actions before clicking “add to cart.”