Shipping and its Carbon Footprint

At Wellow, we are determined to make everyday body care products more eco-friendly and sustainable.

One way we are achieving this is by reducing the carbon footprint of every product we sell and deliver.

Our priorities are to:

1. Create lightweight products that use less materials, especially liquids
2. Deliver them to you without using expedited shipping
3. Reduce our carbon footprint by purchasing carbon offsets on each order

During our research, we learned more about how shipping affects the environment. 

Why We Encourage Eco Shipping

An MIT study researched the carbon footprint of online vs physical store shopping. The research revealed important information about the carbon cost of both types of shopping. The carbon cost was lower when an online shopper chose non-expedited shipping.

Regular shipping (eco shipping) has evolved to help reduce the carbon footprint of shipping carriers. Retailers merge orders into as few boxes as possible. Delivery trucks are able to proceed with loads that are closer to capacity. Routes for packages favor efficiency instead of speed of delivery.

Expedited shipping completely changes the logistics of delivery. Retailers rush to ship smaller orders. Delivery trucks carry loads that are nowhere near capacity. Routes for delivery become inefficient and speed of delivery becomes the only priority.

As a result, delivery trucks drive further, more often, and create more traffic. If the process is not fast enough on land, companies often resort to air delivery. This causes extra carbon emissions from delivery trucks and airplanes.

Josué Valázquez-Martinez is the director of the MIT Sustainable Logistics Department. Josué has been testing the "green button" option, which delays a package delivery. The key benefits of this option are a more eco-friendly and energy-efficient shipment. Through testing, he found that the message around shipping consequences shaped consumer behavior. Compare these two messages:

"same-day delivery is equivalent to killing 3,000 trees”

“if you wait three to four days, then it’s equivalent to killing 10 trees, and by the way we are going to plant 15” (Huffpost, 2017). 

This research helps us conclude that omitting expedited shipping reduces one’s carbon footprint.

As a result, at Wellow we offer free eco shipping. We understand there are a few moments where you may need your product right away. However, we highly encourage regular shipping in all other cases.

With eco shipping, we follow a normal delivery process to help reduce our carbon footprint. Customers who choose 5-day delivery help decrease carbon emissions. Josué says this could help reduce emissions by about 30% in the last mile of delivery.

More Ways to Reduce our Carbon Footprint

Shipping also involves the packaging of our products. We want to ensure that every Wellow package is 100% compostable and recyclable. 

At Wellow, we focus on using responsible materials such as: 

• Upcycled FSC-certified paper pulp
• Recycled kraft paper instead of bubble wrap
• Paper tape with water-soluble adhesive

In Summary

We strive to reduce our carbon footprint with sustainable choices in our shipping behaviors, one product at a time. Shipping patience will pay off for our planet!

We try our best to reduce packaging material to only what is necessary. We also reuse materials that were once loved and recycle them into even better products.

This lets us feel good about being eco-friendly and we can love our planet as much as you do!