Title: Amazon's environmental impact delivers climate change concerns
Headings: Amazon's environmental impact delivers climate change concerns
The Amazon Effect
Amazon's environmental impact delivers climate change concerns
Consumers are accustomed to free and fast delivery from Amazon and other e-tailers, but the convenience of online shopping comes at a cost to the environment.
Amazon takes action
Measuring e-tail's effect on climate change
Consumerism contributes to impact
Changes could yield improvements
Dig Deeper on Amazon's Influence

Content: James Thomson Partner with Buy Box Experts
"It matters what these details are: whether you live in the suburbs or the city, how far you used to go to the store, how much you buy in a single trip. We can't just say, 'Boom, it's better to shop online,'" she added. Consumerism contributes to impact
James Thomson, a former Amazon executive and now a partner with Buy Box Experts, a marketing agency that works with Amazon, said the company, largely through Amazon Prime and one-day shipping, has done a great job at getting customers to shop whenever they want and to expect free, fast delivery -- regardless of whether they actually need their purchases to arrive quickly. "Consumers don't have to put a shopping list together because they can go online anytime to buy anything," Thomson said. " So while there are some parts of the environmental questions where Amazon could do better -- such as electric trucks or better routing -- they also have got to stop over-delivering [with its excess packaging] and stop getting consumers to think they need everything instantly." Amazon is not the only retailer engaged in these practices; other retailers also offer free delivery and incentives that encourage frequent shopping regardless of actual need. Lack of transparency about how free and fast shipping can contribute to excess packaging and increased emissions encourages this consumer culture, as does the retailers' push to lower prices. " [ Such expectations] create an extra cost to the environment;