Many businesses are starting to realize the impact that their shipping has on the environment. With customers paying close attention to those companies who make more effort to look after the environment, there has never been a better time to go green with your shipping. How your goods are packed and sent can affect our environment significantly. It’s important for your company to find ways to make the shipping process more environmentally friendly. Here are some ideas to help you.
Choose recycled materials for packaging
An excellent place to start with making your shipping process more green is to opt for environmentally friendly packaging. Boxes come with different certifications to show that it is good for the environment. Ideally, you want to choose boxes that are Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. This means they came from forests that are sustainably managed. It’s also worth looking for Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certified boxes which means they have features like adhesives and inks that are not harmful to the environment. For inside the packaging, you should consider choosing corrugated cardboard inserts which are fibrous blocking materials, instead of more harmful materials like styrofoam. You could also use shredded paper instead of packaging peanuts.
Keep in mind the size of your packaging
Although there are some truck freight shipping companies that utilize spare capacity on their trucks to reduce the number of shipping journeys, your business can also play a part in helping reduce the size and volume of packaging to create more space for other packages. This can help reduce the carbon footprint and will minimize the amount of packaging you use, therefore cutting material costs. You could also consider using a green shipper. Transportation companies who are trying to lower their emissions can become certified members of the SmartWay Program. They are monitored on things like the inflation of tires to how long trucks are idle. Companies can submit their tracking tool to be evaluated each year to ensure they remain in good standing.Â
Have a good return plan in place
Due to online sales, more companies are shipping more goods. This means you’re increasing the number of return goods at the same time. It’s important to have a good return plan in place that considers the environment. When someone returns an unwanted or defective product, it can create more pollution and use more fuel to get it sent back. If the product itself is not too costly, you could consider sending a new one out rather than have the customer return the original product. By requesting products of little value back, you could be damaging the environment. If the product is of value, you can accept this back and refurbish it so that the materials are not wasted. Doing it this way eliminates the possibility of the customer destroying the item and causing a different impact on the environment.
These are three ways you can help make your shipping process more eco-friendly. When you take into account the impact your shipping has on the environment, you can increase customer loyalty and encourage others to follow a more green approach.
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