In the era of e-commerce and globalisation, parcel deliveries have contributed substantially to pollution and carbon emissions and are expected to continue to worsen in the next few years. It is time for consumers to pay attention to what is going on around them and start demanding improvements from businesses by using their best weapon, purchasing elsewhere if businesses are not environmentally friendly.
Business can be proactive and take this opportunity to work on greener logistics and market themselves as a green company to set themselves apart from the competition. In this article, you will find our suggestions for businesses to improve their logistics to become more environmentally friendly.
Eco-friendly packaging
Having an Eco-friendly packaging goes way back, from the moment the package is designed to the moment it is disposed of. Think of smart packing, where you are actively involved in the design, the materials, and its purpose.
Don’t use unnecessary sizes that will only complicate parcel deliveries, increase your shipping costs and will end up being wasted. Are you using minimalist packaging? Are raw materials recycled? Is it polluting the environment when it’s been created? Take this as an opportunity to revamp your packaging and make it even more attractive.
Green Parcels
Having green parcels also includes using reused or recycled materials. Most of the industry’s impact is packaging materials and accessories. Another great way to reduce materials is to use alternative packaging like biodegradable air peanuts, wrap made up of cycled corrugated cardboard, air pillow made of recycled materials, cornstarch and mushroom packaging, recycled cardboards/papers as well as eco-friendly plastics and recycled plastics.
As a way to enhance green marketing businesses can use notes on the parcels to communicate that the materials used in shipping are 100% recyclable.
Electric and Driverless Vehicles
There is no doubt that electric cars will drive down problems caused by emissions from cars that use petrol or diesel and drastically reduce its carbon footprint. When it comes to “the last mile” delivery, couriers can use bicycles for more sustainability. This, in turn, produces zero emissions and impact on the environment.
Then enter driverless vehicles. In spite of many challenges in making these a reality, there are startups who pioneer driverless delivery. It’s still a long way, but it’s getting closer!
Carbon Neutral Delivery
The objective of carbon neutral programs, such as carbon neutral couriers, is not to eliminate all carbon emissions associated with parcel deliveries, this would be next to impossible. However, the goal is to participate in certain activities to offset those emissions by removing the equal amount of carbon dioxide. Nowadays there are tons of projects, such as planting trees, building solar or wind energy plants, etc. If you are looking for ways to help the environment while also following a green marketing strategy, look for companies such as Sendle, which are certified B-corp and they parcel deliveries are proudly carbon neutral.
Weaving some of these green initiatives into the culture of the courier business will go a long way in ensuring the carbon footprint of the sector is reduced and it reaps the multiple rewards of operating an eco-conscious business.