There’s a general misconception that the massive growth in ecommerce comes with no real cost to the environment. Indeed, most people assume that when a transaction moves online, the environment actually benefits in a number of ways. For example, if a purchase no longer takes place at a physical store, it reduces the need for things like heating, lighting and paper, helping to preserve natural resources.
Unfortunately, the reality is that every single click on a website is responsible for a tiny volume of carbon emissions. What’s more, there are literally billions of e-commerce-related clicks taking place every day –...