Time To Go Green With Online Grocery Stores!

Keshav Rai
Baabae
Published in
4 min readAug 1, 2020

When you choose to order your groceries online instead of visiting the neighborhood kirana shop, you’re probably thinking about your convenience.But did you know that this action can be beneficial for the environment as a whole? By shopping online,you can even reduce your carbon footprint and go green!

Think about it, what is your grocery shopping experience like? You don’t typically take your friends along to shop together-this is an individual experience. Usually you go to the market in the car. Sure, you may walk down occasionally but realistically speaking, how often does this happen? Even to buy a single carton of milk, you will have to take your car out for a round trip. Thus, your shopping trip adds to global pollution levels. Think about the number of trips you take to the market every month just for groceries and how much these trips contribute to pollution.Similarly, every trip your neighbors make to the market also adds to global pollution levels.

Now, What Happens When You Shop Online?

Fewer Trips To Market

Without stepping out of your home, you, your neighbors, and all the other people in your neighborhood can place an order for groceries. You can order pantry supplies like rice and milk as well as cleaning supplies, snacks, etc. The orders will be grouped together and delivered by a single delivery agent. Thus, instead of 10 or 20 cars making round trips, a single vehicle can deliver all the groceries you need. The fewer vehicles on the road, the less pollution, your order will be associated with.

Less Consumption Of Fuel

Baabae has a unique system wherein the city is covered by a network of warehouses instead of just one on the outskirts. Each warehouse serves an area of around 2 km. Thus, your order has to travel a shorter distance between the warehouse and your home. The shorter the distance, the lesser amount of fuel consumed. Hence,it is one of the most efficient and eco-friendly ways to shop for groceries.

Lesser Use Of Older Vehicles

Online grocery retailers can also be made accountable for the condition of the vehicles used for deliveries and carbon emissions. Individuals may use old cars for their shopping trips. Older vehicles consume more fuel, which causes an increase in pollution levels. It would be very difficult for governments to track the age of cars and ensure people replace old cars with newer, more eco-friendly models. However, it is easier for them to tell the retailers to follow the latest carbon emission norms. The system is comparable to how travelling by bus is better than travelling by car. It’s all about the ratio of the number of people to the amount of smoke emitted by the vehicle.

Reduces Plastic Consumption

Shopping for groceries online also reduces your plastic consumption. When you visit the market to buy groceries, you may have to visit multiple shops to get everything you need. Small shops don’t always have paper bags, and may give you small plastic bags for every purchase. You may argue that you can fight against this by carrying a cloth bag but despite your best efforts, there may be times when you forget the bag at home.

Reduction In Packaging Material

When you shop online, your groceries can all be packed together. Hence, the amount of packaging material needed will be reduced. Some online grocery retailers can also take additional steps to reduce plastic consumption. For example, they may pack your order in a cloth bag or a cardboard carton. These cartons and bags are easily biodegradable and may be reused o/r recycled. Alternatively, they may deliver the order in a returnable pallet.

Ecologically Conscious Purchase

Shopping for groceries online also increases the choice before you. You can now shop for organic produce that has a minimal carbon footprint instead of brands that have a heavier carbon footprint. Every decision matter and when you choose to make an ecologically conscious purchase, you are helping reduce the global pollution levels.

Use Of Technology

In the times to come, technology may make online grocery shopping even more eco-friendly. For example, they may use drones to deliver orders. Drones do not run on fuel and hence this would reduce carbon emissions even further. Similarly, they may use vehicles that run on electricity or solar power for their deliveries. It is more likely for them to make this change compared to individual shoppers.

The Bottom-Line

So, if you thought online shopping only benefits the busy bees, think again. Incorporate broader environmental picture in your purchase to make the environment less disposable. Order your groceries from an online grocery retailer like Baabae. Here, you have the option to get the order delivered at a time that suits you the best, and the all your groceries will be available at your doorstep in one trip.Are you ready to go green?

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Keshav Rai
Baabae
Editor for

Keshav Rai is the Co-Founder of Baabae — An Edukaan solution to daily essentials.