At a time when everyone is talking about how to conserve the environment and reduce greenhouse gas emissions which are affecting our environment, one of the main culprit is seen to be the e-commerce sector. This is because the likes of Amazon and other major e-commerce platforms over the world are flying planes, sending their parcels by road and other means of transport which are all increasing the risks of climate change and global warming.
Right now, we know that Amazon is pledging to do something about the effects on climate due to its delivery and says that they are wanting to become carbon-neutral meaning that they will reduce emissions on areas where it is not necessary. However, such a plan was discussed a few years back as per a new report.
According to people working on Amazon’s Prime Now delivery service which guarantees delivery in under an hour, at least one employee suggested showing customers a “green” message. This green message would tell customers that they can get their package delivered slower so as to reduce the effects on climate.
Because it was known internally that Prime Now service will have to deliver parcels in one-hour and that meant they would have to run empty trucks with a single or two parcels most of the time. However, this plan was scrapped due to the fear inside that people would not click on the “buy now” button if such a message was shown.
Another person, familiar with the matters, said that “It was all efficiency and bottom-line focused,”. “If you don’t have top-down goals around sustainability, there are always going to be tradeoffs.” Amazon’s climate commitments have come only after their employees, shareholders and activists protested against the company and created pressure for them to act regarding this matter.
