Trusted site, the Alternative Consumer, today reports a study that shows that online shopping results in lower carbon emissions. //www.alternativeconsumer.com/2009/03/17/shopping-online-more-energy-efficient/

This is great info and we’re pleased to see an empirical representation of what we’ve long believed — and what we’ve based our eco-gift, online boutique on. Apparel, or anything sized, is definitely in a different class — the ill-fitting possibility multiplying the return probability. Gifts purchased at the mall, however, if for a distant recipient, require an additional drive to UPS or USPS after wrapping — additional carbon expenditures compared to online, direct delivery.

In our eco-gift, online boutique, we’ve tried to minimize the ill-fitting problem by not offering sized products (except for babies).

And we’ve minimized the packaging problem by making our custom gift boxes in the US relatively near our warehouse (as local as we can get) and by supporting box and paper makers who used recycled and other green practices. We use 100% American grown and manufactured organic cotton ribbon. Our gift boxes are unbranded to encourage reuse. I’d love to know how these steps further reduce the carbon emissions of an online gift.