How much does online shopping really cost?

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White box on white table.


It has been almost 3 months since the University of Ottawa cancelled in person classes. In that time students have embarked in a variety of imposed vacation activities ranging from Netflix to baking, and of course, a favourite activity for many, online shopping. From Amazon to Fashion Nova, there are more places on the internet than ever to shop. Armed with discounts such as Amazon Prime and SPC, students are embracing this digital reality with open arms. According to Statistics Canada, more than 8 in 10 Canadians shops online in 2018, and 57.6% of online shoppers had bought clothing, jewelry, or accessories, which is to say actual goods, not simply online services.

Unfortunately, as the online shopping economy grows, the environmental impact of the industry is not often discussed. Every year the fashion industry alone is responsible for 10% of the world’s carbon emissions and the industry is the second-largest consumer of water worldwide (Business Insider). Another consideration is the impact of door to door shipping, which has its own large impact.

A sector of fashion that has disproportionate footprint is fast fashion. Merriam Webster defines fast fashion as “an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers.” This approach is used by the likes of H&M and ensures that consumers have large popular variety at any point in time. The speed of production inevitably causes quite a large amount of waste. Approximately 85% of textiles end up in landfills each year (Business Insider), a jarring symptom of overproduction.

Beyond fashion, other online retailers contribute to the environmental problem in their own manner. We cannot look at online shopping without acknowledging the industry leader: Amazon. The Amazon phenomenon has made a near infinite variety of products available to us at the click of a button. Their subscription service, Amazon Prime, makes it incredibly easy to order an inexpensive item and have it arrive the same day. Easy enough to leave the environment behind when we are offered such convenience. In 2018, Amazon released a detailed list of its carbon emissions adding up to the grand total of 44.40 Million Metric Tons (mmt) of carbon dioxide, which works out to 128.9g per $1 dollar (USD) spent on Amazon. To put in perspective, the annual total of 44.40 mmt is equivalent to 4996 gallons of gasoline consumed or charging your phone 5,662,431 times (Greenhouse Gas Calculator)!

Even so, it is unrealistic to expect everyone to stop shopping online, particularly in the current situation that the world has found itself in. We should however make conscious efforts to acknowledge how our habits contribute to the overall health of our home planet.

Here are just a few of the different ways to reduce your environmental impact while shopping online:
  • Shop locally to reduce the amount of emissions from shipping (think national > international)
  • Pick up goods from the store instead of shipping them directly to your home (Curbside Pickup)
  • Try online thrift shopping: i.e. Plato's Closet St. Laurent 
  • Try to buy clothes that will last! The material and manufacture location can be signs of good quality clothes that you won’t have to throw away in the next year (i.e. Made in Canada, cotton over polyester)
  • Before shopping try to clean your room and donate or sell some of your unused items to avoid over shopping

Happy Shopping!

Angeline