How to become an environmentally sustainable e-commerce business in 2021

In this digital crazed world, it’s so easy to forget the impact a small e-commerce business can have on both it’s consumer and the environment. For most e-comm businesses, the product that they are promoting or selling is attached to a wider supply chain, meaning that there are multiple businesses, locations and methods of travel involved in the acquisition and delivery of a product. Knowing the impact of this, there has never been a more crucial time to start thinking about making this process more environmentally sustainable.

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Let’s look at Flora & Fauna, based in the North Rocks suburb of West Sydney. This business is living proof that an e-commerce business can base their entire ethos around a sustainable future for an industry such as the beauty industry. Their forward and innovative approach to packaging and delivering over 5,500 products sourced from over 240 brands puts them right at the forefront of sustainable e-comms. Flora & Fauna only sources products that are vegan and ethical, which results in a low environmental impact. The eco-genius founder, Julie Mathers, also goes out of her way to remove all plastic from orders using paper tape and biodegradable cornstarch packing peanuts.

Julie Mathers of Flora & Fauna. Photo: Flora & Fauna

Consumer behaviour online has changed mightily in the past decade. One study claims that one in seven of all sales worldwide are made online which makes online shopping a 4.8 trillion dollar industry. Of course, you can understand the monetary potential of e-comm, but did you know that around one in three of all orders made online are returned?

This puts a huge strain on carbon emissions. In the US alone, 2 billion dollars of returned products end up in a landfill, emitting 13 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air we breathe.

So as a sustainable e-comm business how can you make your mark and save the world?

Build your brand identity around environmental sustainability

For your sustainable efforts to have any real meaning, you must work out your why’s, what’s and when’s. What is the purpose of your company going green? Why should the consumer care, what impact does it have on your product or service? What are your targets and goals, when do you intend to achieve these goals?

If you’re an established e-commerce, why don’t you quiz your loyal customer base to gauge what they think about the company adopting a greener mindset? Slow integration is quite important so you don’t overwhelm your existing customer base!

Remember though, you can’t fake authenticity and your customers will catch on to the herd environmental movement! If your brand has always pushed a green agenda, then authenticity should be ingrained in your company's ethos; however if it’s not, make sure you choose a cause you feel truly passionately about.

Factory workers in China assembling batteries. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

Pay attention to how you acquire materials

It’s simple, source locally where you can. If you are importing goods from overseas then think about who you are importing from and what businesses you are supporting. Are you purchasing from a company that is polluting an entire community in south Asia or are you buying from a company that invests money into reducing their carbon footprint?

We are very fortunate to live in Australia, known as one of the world’s very few entirely self-sufficient countries meaning we have no excuse to import the vast majority of goods

that we do. There are many benefits to sourcing products and raw materials locally such as;

• Supporting and stimulating the local and national economy, which is a bonus especially during COVID-19 where a lot of local businesses are struggling to make ends meet!

• Reducing the travel distance and time for products to reach you as well as the carbon dioxide emitted through transporting goods over vast distances. It may also reduce other costs such as import taxes and fees.

• You can inspect products and materials yourself which reduces the likelihood of having to return them and incur repackaging fees and more unnecessary shipping. The bonus here is that you can see the manufacturing process and have more involvement in your product!

Eco-Proof your shipping and packaging

Yeah, minimum-order free shipping is nice, it drives sales and reduces packaging, but it still doesn’t solve your packaging crisis! What if you could eradicate all unsustainable packaging by turning to biodegradable materials and customer incentives? Take LUSH, the Dorset founded cosmetics company that sells the majority of their products unpackaged. Anything that does require packaging such as liquid face masks are packaged using post-consumer recycled waste. For an added eco-incentive, LUSH encourages their customers to recycle by offering a free face mask for every five empty face mask containers they return.

Compostable and reusable packaging. Photo: Magic Linen

Here are some things you could do to prevent your packaging from gracing the ever growing landfill pits while remaining cost-effective!

• Stop wrapping everything in plastic, there’s just no need!

• Use Biodegradable materials

• Use repurposed, recycled materials

• Avoid using newspaper unless you source recycled newspaper. It’s still paper, and paper originates from the very thing that sustains living organisms.

• Use paper tape or ribbons to seal your parcels. Amazon made this switch a while ago now.

Reduce your paper trail

No, not because we are trying to evade the taxman… Switch to the cloud! Store your emails and company records on the cloud, send receipts and invoices digitally and market digitally. After all, you’re an e-commerce and the majority of your potential customer base will find you online.

Tip: If you switch to the cloud, ensure you have physical hard drive backups of all your data. These don’t even need to be plugged in so don’t worry about the extra electricity usage.

Support a green cause

You’ve heard of Greenpeace for sure, but who’s fighting the battle with local interests right here in Australia? Here’s a small list of charities any e-commerce would benefit from supporting

• Australian Conservation Foundation - https://www.acf.org.au/

• Bush Heritage Australia - https://www.bushheritage.org.au/

• Australian Marine Conservation Society - https://www.marineconservation.org.au/ • The Wilderness Society - https://www.wilderness.org.au/

Think outside of the box

Does your house or office run on expensive, polluting sources of electricity? Could you invest in solar power? What about those computers that stay on all day? We all know you have your mind on coffee by 2 pm so why don’t you turn off the power or leave monitors on stand by to reduce your energy usage while you take a break. If you are encouraging your customers to recycle, you should lead by example! Everything from electrical items to glass bottles can be recycled, reused or repurposed.

Being an eco-friendly e-commerce business takes a lot of thought, but by no means will it impact your sales and profit, it might even drive sales in the right direction as customers love knowing that they are doing the right thing. The year 2021 will provide every e-commerce business an opportunity like never before to reach wider audiences with high street shops on a COVID-19 induced decline. So use your platform to change the world we live in, one small change at a time.

Are you a sustainability-minded retailer interested in partnership opportunities? Get in touch!