T-Shirts and the Environment

Thursday 19th of March 2009 02:08:05 PM

T-Shirts and the Environment

When you shop online for your polo shirts, you are not only getting a great price. Shopping online has been proven to reduce the carbon footprint humans leave on the earth in a number of ways. The Logistics Research Centre at Heriot-Watt University studied online shopping from a whole new perspective…how goods travel from the shop to the home.

The study looked at the difference in carbon monoxide emissions when driving to and from the shops versus emissions from a parcel carrier delivery van. When you have your tees delivered by a van after purchasing them online, there is much less carbon monoxide generated than if you drove to the store and back home or took a bus.

Mr. James Roper is the Chairman of IMRWorld.org. He has been interested in promoting this type of research for many years. Internet retailers have always believed that buying goods through the internet is more environmentally friendly but solid research backing up this claim is just beginning to appear. Mr. Roper was quoted as saying, “It has long been assumed that the overall efficiency improvements inherent in e-retailing make it more planet-friendly than going out to the shops, but this factual, wide-ranging research nails the point. Now that Heriot-Watt University has proven the general principle, further research into the subject of consumer goods distribution is certain to follow in order to discover precisely what aspects are more efficient and to what degree, and how still greater efficiency improvements can be obtained.”

Professor McKinnon at the University also pointed out that internet based companies can pursue environmentally efficient logistical policies including the mode of delivery chosen for getting online orders to customers. This research was funded by the UK government and is part of the Green Logistics Research Project. There will be many more studies like this one completed over time.

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