Re: [pf] From today's Grist: Retail or e-tail?

by Molly Williams

09 December 2000 00:11 UTC

I don't know about this ("But Carnegie Mellon's Green Design
Initiative, in its case study "Harry Potter and the Ozone Layer," says
it
may be less environmentally efficient to ship books individually to
customers, often overnight by plane, than for customers to buy books
in-person that were sent to bookstores by the crate load.  Researchers
at the New Jersey Institute for Technology found that buying a computer
online was worse for the
environment."). I think there are other factors, as Priscilla suggests.

For instance, today I drove to Borders, our closest bookstore (45 mins
away one-way), to look for some items today. I bought a couple of books
but they mostly didn't have what I wanted. Amazon does. I ordered from
Amazon (stuff takes 3-7 days to get here, so I don't think it's coming
"overnight by plane"). I guess I could have called (long-distance) to
Borders to see if they had what I wanted before I left home, but I
visited them as part of other errands and a volunteer job, so it wasn't
too much out of the way. But what if I didn't know the exact /names/ of
the books/videos/CDs I wanted, just the /types/ of the items? No one
could help me by phone, and if I drove to the store I would potentially
be wasting 1-1/2 hours of my time and a few gallons of gas for nothing,
or maybe to feel like it wasn't all wasted, I would buy something I
didn't even want, which would also be wasteful.

I have done almost all my Christmas shopping on-line this year, and it
has been mostly stress-free. MUCH less stress than the Mall, or driving
and parking downtown, or standing in a long line, or fighting shopping
traffic and consumer ads, or spending 15 mins hunting for an item in a
store only to find they don't really have what I want. A lot of our
gifts are non-tangibles, like animal adoptions and contributions to
organisations, and they are only available on-line or by phone, but even
for books, clothes, videos, and food, I have ordered on-line instead of
going to a "local" (45 mins each way) provider of the goods. It's so
much simpler, I feel. 

Not only do I get exactly what I want, at a good price, but I also don't
use the car,  don't get stuck in traffic, don't waste trips "looking,"
AND I can bake, print my Christmas cards, and read my e-mail messages
while I am shopping! I feel I am wasting much less time than I used to
and accomplishing more. I'm not always in favour of multi-tasking, but
shopping and baking just don't take all of my brain power by
themselves.  :-)  [The actual /choosing/ of the gift is something I tend
to do while driving, showering, or during other "down" time, when I can
concentrate on one particular person and his/her passions, concerns,
interests.]

~ Molly

prichter1@aol.com wrote:
> 
> I have longed wondered the same thing what with shipping and handling. For
> the online outlets, someone picks up their shipments, ships them, sends them
> out to the customer's door.  I wonder how this compares to individuals
> driving to buy stuff, and these outlets not having lots of smaller retail
> outlets in population centers.  For stuff like computers, the products still
> have to be packaged well. Not so with books. It still seems like some of this
> may have less environmental impact via online ordering.
> 
> But I wonder: what environmental effects can less frazzled nerves play in the
> whole scheme of things?  I have not done online shopping this year and have
> been more intentional about buying through the year (my family still insists
> on getting and giving stuff).  But would less stress of ordering online have
> environmental effects? My guess is, if butterflies in Peking can cause a
> tornado in Wichita, then less stressful holidays has some beneficial effect
> somewhere!
> 
> Blessings, Priscilla