Although we increasingly use the Internet to do our shopping, one type of shopping that most people still do offline is grocery shopping. If you are someone who is aware of your environmental footprint, shopping for groceries online is something to consider. A study conducted by the Carnegie Mellon Green Design Institute in 2009 showed that shopping online can reduce our environmental impact by up to 66%. Buying groceries online has many of the same benefits. Let’s take a look at some of them.

1. Less gas

By far the greatest help in reducing environmental damage is reducing the amount of gas. When you order online, you don’t need to drive your car to and from the grocery store. Instead, a large truck will deliver the food to you. Now, you may be thinking that even though you are reducing the amount of gasoline used, the truck must still use gasoline to drive home. That’s true, but consider which of these scenarios uses the most unnecessary energy: a single person getting into a 2-ton vehicle to drive to and from the store; or a few extra pounds of groceries placed in a huge truck that was already going through your neighborhood anyway. The exception to this is if you choose overnight express delivery on an airplane. If you want to help the environment, you should consider avoiding that option in all of your online purchases. Buying online also requires additional packaging, but this is more than offset by the energy saved.

2. Buy more environmentally friendly

The best thing about buying groceries online compared to a physical store is the selection that we have available. Although offline stores often have a green section or aisle, they simply cannot store all the green products available. When you shop online, you can make sure that the products you buy are the most environmentally friendly and environmentally friendly available. Many smaller grocery stores specialize in products like these, and you can buy them outright. You can also compare and read reviews of many more products when shopping online.

3. Walk

Although there are many benefits to shopping online, there is one last option that is even better. Walk! If you walk or bike to the store, you get the best of all worlds. You will not use ANY gas and you will also save all the necessary packaging.