Did you know that Amazon.com has a green store?

I didn’t! And when I was recently browsing the internet for energy efficient televisions and gadgets, I stumbled across their green page. It’s fantastic!

All the green products they can offer are in one place, making shopping easy and quick. It can be a great place to buy products directly from Amazon.com or you can use the page to research which products to buy on your next shopping trip.

Here at YouRenew, we particularly like the green electronics page. All of the devices in their green electronics section have been awarded the Energy Star seal of efficiency. Personally, I would have liked to see more stringent standards, like an EPEAT rating in addition to the Energy Star seal. But, I’m glad Amazon has gotten customers thinking about buying consciously.

Looking at the Amazon page got me thinking, what’s better for the planet? Buying electronics online or buying them in the store?
Surely, the energy spent to ship the item would be more than driving 10 minutes to a local mall? Right?

To answer my question, I found an article from TreeHugger that examines this very issue. The conclusion: “it depends on the variables.”

“According to the Center for Energy & Climate Solutions, shipping two 20 pound packages by overnight air — the most energy-intensive delivery mode — still uses 40 percent less fuel than driving 20 miles round-trip to the mall or store or wherever you’re going,” said TreeHugger “Ground shipping — which is much more efficient than overnight air — checks in at just one-tenth the energy used driving yourself.”

However, TreeHugger notes that shopping online results in 2.5 times more packaging than shopping in stores. In addition, if you don’t need to drive to the store or live in an urban area, it may make more sense to walk to a store and buy the device yourself.

Either way, it’s good to weigh the pros and cons of each purchasing outlet before buying an item. If you live in a suburban area and would need to drive more than 8 miles to pick up the device, shopping online is your best bet. Alternatively, if you live close to the store, taking a walk, bike ride or public transit to the store is a better environmental choice.

We’re glad Amazon has taken the time to provide easy access to green products. Now that they’ve educated consumers, we just have to do our part to shop consciously!