With e-commerce growing rapidly and customers expecting faster deliveries, the logistics sector is now responsible for a significant portion of global COâ‚‚ emissions. As businesses strive to meet demand while staying eco-friendly, reducing your carbon footprint has become more important than ever.
In this guide, we’ll explore practical strategies to help your business minimize its environmental impact, adopt sustainable logistics, and operate more efficiently.
What Causes Carbon Emissions in the E-commerce?
Before diving into solutions, it’s important to understand the main sources of carbon emissions in e-commerce:
1. Poor packaging
Using oversized boxes, excess filler, or energy-intensive materials increases shipping emissions.
2. Impulse purchases
Promotions and discounts encourage extra buying, which drives more production and shipping.
3. Frequent customer returns
When returns are free and easy, many consumers buy multiple items, intending to return several of them. This, of course, increases carbon emissions from the additional transport involved when returning products.
4. Energy intensive devices
Smartphones, tablets, and computers used for e-commerce require significant power and battery resources.
5. Vast data centers
E-commerce has also driven an increase in the amounts of data that needs to be processed, stored, and retrieved. This has resulted in enormous data centers that consume huge amounts of energy – as well as mirror servers in separate locations that add to the problem.
6. Fast transport methods
Even in these days of climate-consciousness, consumers still want to receive their purchases quickly. Especially in cross-border e-commerce, this often leads to the use of air transport, which has the largest carbon footprint of all transport options.
9 Tips to Reduce Your Business Carbon Footprint
These sustainable business practices will help you work towards a carbon neutral business.Â
1. Track your carbon emissions
Understanding your carbon footprint is the first step toward reduction. Emissions are typically divided into three categories:
Scope 1 – Direct emissions from company-owned vehicles or fuel use.
Scope 2 – Indirect emissions from purchased energy, such as electricity or heating.
Scope 3 – Other indirect emissions, including suppliers, partners, and customer activities.
Using tools like the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and DHL Express’s sustainability solutions can help track emissions and provide actionable insights.
2. Offset your emissions
Carbon offsetting balances unavoidable emissions by funding environmental projects, such as reforestation, renewable energy, or clean water initiatives. Offset programs not only reduce your footprint but also demonstrate your commitment to sustainability—boosting your brand image.
3. Go paperless
Digital invoicing, online receipts, and paperless internal systems save resources and reduce emissions. DHL Express offers electronic documentation solutions to help businesses operate more sustainably.
4. Switch to sustainable packaging
Use packaging that’s the right size for your products and choose recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable materials. Combining multiple items in one shipment and using eco-friendly packaging reduces both waste and carbon emissions.
5. Offer eco-friendly transportation
Choose logistics partners with green shipping options. DHL Express GoGreen Plus, for instance, uses Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to cut emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel. These solutions help businesses deliver faster while staying eco-conscious.
6. Efficient inventory management
Adopting Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory minimizes warehouse energy use and reduces waste. Stock arrives only as needed, improving efficiency and lowering emissions.
7. Build a sustainable supply chain
Work with suppliers and partners who share your sustainability goals. Assess environmental performance and choose eco-conscious vendors to reduce your indirect carbon footprint.
8. Implement a circular economy approach
Extend your products’ lifecycle with a reverse logistics strategy. This promotes the idea of recycling, refurbishing and repairing damaged product returns (rather than sending them to landfill) – a more environmentally friendly and cost-effective route.
9. Reduce customer returns
Invest in high-quality product images, detailed descriptions, and virtual reality tools to help customers make informed purchase decisions. Parcel lockers for returns can consolidate multiple pickups, lowering transportation-related emissions.
Start Reducing Your Carbon Footprint Today
Reducing your business’s carbon footprint doesn’t happen overnight. Focus on incremental improvements and engage your customers in sustainability initiatives. Regularly review and update your practices to stay efficient and eco-friendly.
With a DHL Express Business Account, you gain access to a full range of sustainable logistics solutions—from green shipping options to carbon tracking tools—helping you reduce your environmental impact while keeping your operations efficient.
With a DHL Express Business Account, you’ll have access to a range of dedicated sustainable logistics solutions to help you reduce your business’s carbon footprint.
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