It’s no secret that Amazon Prime has a huge carbon footprint with the allure fast “free” shipping. Now with the option of one-day shipping, Prime’s footpring is increasing further adding more vehicles on the road with more individual deliveries.
I was not a Prime member until the pandemic when shopping became extremely challenging. It’s been a lifesaver in some ways- especially getting needed items to my 93-year-old mother in a timely fashion. Along with that convenience comes mountains of ridiculous packaging. Amazon seems to have a one size fits all, which is BIG. Yesterday I had this tiny package of guitar picks come in this huge plastic envelope. I’ve also had small objects arrive in an oversize box with lots of packaging. This is so frustrating to me. Here are a few tips to stop this ridiculous waste.
- COMPLAIN– This problem is not going away unless Amazon hears from customers that are unhappy with their wasteful practices. CALL the customer service option in contact us. I spoke to a very understanding agent about the above issues. She assured me that my feedback would be submitted.
- Select the second option on checkout “group my items into one shipment.” Even though I routinely do this, items come in separate packages due originating from separate fulfillment centers. They will though, arrive in a single delivery.
- Reuse what packaging you can. I use those annoying plastic envelopes to line the bottom of my kitchen garbage cans. Squished up they can be used for padding for shipping fragile items.
- Recycle them. I just found this handy website How2recycle that gives specific information on recycling all types of packaging. Those pesky Amazon envelopes can be dropped off at store plastic bag recycling bins (along with many other plastic items that I was not aware of). Cut off the mailing labels first. Now, whether they are actually recycled is another matter.
- Don’t order every time you get the urge! Seriously take a breath and amass several articles before placing an order or restrict your ordering to a fixed interval in a month. Most people don’t make numerous trips to the store for single items at a time. AVOID SINGLE DAY SHIPPING!
- Buy local
- Question if you really need more stuff? Needless consumption is a big driver of climate change. Stay away from the computer if you’re bored. Go outside and take a walk!
Amazon is the culprit here but we as consumers are accomplices if we chose to buy into this environmental debacle without being mindful.
The earth muffin also blogs at byalannapass.com
One Sweet Earth 