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
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The Amazon Effect
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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. By
Mary K. Pratt
Published: 04 Feb 2020
The massive volume of packaging materials and shipping waste created by online shopping takes a toll on our environment. As arguably the world's most visible and successful e-tailer, U.S.-based Amazon sits at the center of the controversy. Environmental and consumer activists have taken on the behemoth company, and even its own employees have publicly -- and in defiance of their executives -- spoken out against the practices that they said contribute to Amazon's environmental impact. The advocacy group Amazon Employees for Climate Justice has repeatedly raised alarms about the company, starting in 2019 and continuing into 2020. The group has charged that Amazon is not taking strong enough action to fight climate change. Most recently, the group published statements from more than 350 concerned Amazon employees, who signed their names and job titles despite the company's prohibition on publicly commenting on internal business practices without approval. Others have also taken aim at Amazon, targeting various environment-related issues, from the volume of packaging and traffic-related emissions the company generates to the sale of products containing environmentally dangerous products, such as mercury, that happen via its online retail platform.