I love packages. Am I feeling sad? Don’t worry, a package is on the way. Am I feeling happy? It’s time to feel happier— a package is on the way. Do I need a pick-me-up? Package. Do I need to celebrate? Package.

My mailman knows my name, and Google Chrome autofills my credit card information with a tap of the finger. But my bank account is dwindling, as is the stability of our climate. Online shopping can be a toxic widespread addiction.

In 2021, 159 billion packages were shipped worldwide, a number that more than tripled that of 2014 (Statista).

According to Martina Igini in her article ”The Truth About Online Shopping and Its Environmental Impact” that can be found on earth.org, 3 billion trees are pulped yearly to create shipping containers, and 86 million tons of plastic are produced globally annually.

Shipping and returns alone account for 37% of greenhouse gas emissions.

By 2030, emissions from shipping-related transportation are predicted to rise 6 million tons, based on a 2022 study by the World Economic Forum.

“The global supply chain is at its breaking point,” Igini writes, and consumers’ mindset must shift to reduce waste, carbon emissions, and strain on the shipping industry.

E-commerce marketing works. I get texts and emails daily shouting at me to shop flash sales, and large banners at the top of any website I visit illuminate the way to big deals.

Don’t mind the fact that shipping costs nine dollars; the shirt was 15% off, so it’s a justified purchase. Usually, when I get a package, most things don’t fit quite like I had hoped they would.

That doesn’t mean I’ll return them, though. They’re cute enough or long enough to keep, but I know that had I tried on those pants in a physical store, I wouldn’t have bought them.

Those pants are still sitting in my closet, tag on, unworn. How much money do we waste just because there was an online sale, we were too lazy to return what we didn’t love, or we wanted the excitement of having something new?

Black Friday didn’t used to precede Cyber Monday. There was no Amazon Primeday to look forward to. Consumerism feeds us constant reasons to spend, spend and spend through faux online holidays.

And it works. Billions of dollars are spent on these holidays, and Amazon has become a corporate giant through its business model. Clearly e-commerce is a non-negotiable part of the future rather than a passing fad.

Online shopping through platforms like Amazon Prime have also heightened our expectations of instant gratification. The concept of next-day shipping was a revolutionary movement.

We are conditioned to buy things when we want it and are able to have it ASAP after we decide that we want it.

But fast shipping causes suppliers like Amazon to send trucks that aren’t at maximum capacity, creating a less efficient process that produces more greenhouse gas emissions and traffic. And impulse buys can lead to returns, further inducing unnecessary traffic and emissions.

E-commerce has created a global market, which is in part beneficial because it means suppliers and vendors can further outsource production to countries on the other side of the globe, and consumers can reap the benefits of goods that cost less than in the past.

Our problem, however, is that instead of investing in quality, today’s consumers tend to invest in quantity.

SHEIN, a Chinese online vendor, has capitalized on this trend. It releases thousands of new tops, home goods, accessories, etc. daily on its website for dirt-cheap prices. Prices dip as low as one or two dollars, but the waste the business generates is monstrous.

Predictably, many of its clothes fall apart almost immediately. It serves as a worst-case scenario for the e-commerce industry.

E-commerce is a convenience that, in concept is not inherently bad. Delivery can ease traffic when consumers decide to order from home rather than commuting to stores, but the waste and inefficient processes implemented by the shipping industry are causing more harm than good.

Small businesses are struggling from reduced foot traffic and corporate giants, as well as e-commerce retailers, beating their prices. But, taking price per wear into consideration, investing in quality often beats investing in quantity.

Next time you need a pair of jeans, consider where to spend your dollar. The best option may not be on your laptop.