Impacts

As of now, the impacts that the environment has on eCommerce are too early to tell. However, a few signs that have both positive and negative effects to them are coming to be known. Many different sources have pointed to the fact that eCommerce is making us more energy efficient. A report from the Center for Energy and Climate Solutions has even proven it.

"It is possible that information technology, and the Internet in particular, are making the economy somewhat less dependent on energy."

E-commerce shopping reduces overall carbon imprint in the United States by 30%, according to a study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University.

Here are evident environmental impacts through eCommerce.

• Dematerialization (ex. digitization of books)
• Transport volume, vehicle emissions
• Changes in energy use, transportation infrastructure and land use location
• Energy is still used to ship packages to and from customers, but this impact is greatly lower than each customer commuting to and from a store.
• Electronic advertising, receipts and newsletters also greatly reduce the paper trail often attributed to traditional shopping, where receipt paper cannot be recycled.