Every business owner is responsible and accountable for keeping consumers aware of the environmental impacts of shopping, as well as for showing concern for Mother Earth by providing eco-friendly options. It means that every company should have a policy in place to help protect and preserve the environment, such as offering green shipping options.
An eco-friendly business attracts more customers, something which you need to realize as a business owner. In this post, you’ll learn more about the different green shipping options you can offer to consumers and how to protect the environment, at the same time.
Use Wood Pallets For Shipping
Today, it’s cheaper for companies to use plastic pallets. However, plastic pallets are not biodegradable. Wood pallets, on the other hand, are made from a natural material, making it a very sustainable shipping option.
Using wood pallets for shipping is an environmentally-friendly way to pack and ship products. These are recyclable, easy to repurpose, and easy to repair as compared to their plastic counterparts.
Here are the good-to-know facts about wood pallets used for shipping:
Made From Renewable Source: Wood pallets are usually made from lumber, which is a renewable resource, unlike plastic pallets that are made from natural gas or petroleum, such as high-density polyethylene or HDPE.
Reusable And Easy To Repair: Wood pallets can be reused if damaged, pressed into wood chips, or be used in creating blockboards. Also, wooden pallets are more durable and easier to repair than plastic pallets, which tend to break or crack.
Recyclable: It’s easy to recycle wood pallets. They can be simply dismantled into individual pallets and used in different ways–as landscape mulch, soil enhancer, or animal bedding. These can also be used as pressed wood pallets, wood particleboard, and energy recovery (heating).
Use Natural Or Eco-friendly Filling Material
Styrofoam is a commonly used filling material for packaging. However, it can be hazardous to health and the environment. Because styrofoam involves a petroleum-based manufacturing process, it makes it a non-sustainable product, generating a huge amount of waste.
Instead of styrofoam, you can use biodegradable fillers, such as traditional packing peanuts, which is a green option. Also, you can use organic starch cushioning that only costs $2 more than its synthetic version.
Small-scale Packaging
Keeping the size in mind is important in green shipping. You can reduce the size and volume of a package by using fewer packing materials to take less space on delivery vehicles, which can improve carbon footprint. Small-scale packaging is highly recommended because it can also cut material costs to help grow your company’s profit while making use of space more efficiently in transit.
Choose A Green Partner Shipping Company
For your e-commerce or online business, or whether you have a physical store receiving online or phone orders using delivery services, it’s important to partner with a green shipping company. It’s one great way to let customers better understand the different environmental impacts of transport shipping options, from pickup to delivery, particularly in carbon emissions.
Here are some examples of shipping companies implementing green shipping:
One of the leading providers of global freight services is DHL Global Forwarding. The company has launched the GOGREEN Carbon Dashboard, a new carbon emissions tracking service.
Another freight service going green today is FedEx, which operates in more than 375 airports and implements EarthSmart. FedEx focuses their efforts on incorporating renewable energy at their facilities, providing alternative solutions for their customers, discovering new technologies, and advocating for sound environment public policy.
Schedule A Package Pickup
Delivery trucks are usually on the route, so scheduling a package pickup instead of personally driving it to your local post office will help reduce carbon emissions. Most often than not, post offices generally pick up packages for free. Also, major delivery service routes have been fuel-efficiently optimized, and delivery companies can give the parcels to regular delivery people.
Set A Green Return Plan
Returns are inevitable if you’re in e-commerce or online business. That’s why it’s important to create a green return by considering the cost and the environment at the same time. You might want to consider sending a replacement product for inexpensive items and ask the customer to keep the old item to eliminate the carbon footprint or pollution associated with returning shipping.
Conclusion
Green shipping options include using wood pallets that can be reused and recycled later on, unlike plastic pallets that are usually made from petroleum and other health and environmentally harmful chemicals. It’s also the same with using biodegradable fillers than styrofoam.
Partnering with green shipping freight services is a good idea to ensure that carbon emissions are greatly reduced during the entire shipping process to help protect the environment. It’s also one way to keep customers environmentally aware of the effects of various transport methods on the surroundings.