Top Tips for Keeping Your Fulfilment Green

Going green is no longer an option for businesses. It’s a necessity.

The 2022 Inside Australian Online Shopping Habits report highlighted that three in four Australians consider sustainability when they buy online. A KPMG study on Australian retail showed that 80% of users will buy from businesses that value environmental, social, and governance.

These figures are expected to grow, which means now is the time to start thinking about how to keep your fulfilment green. Your customers will research how you send parcels to them, and if it doesn’t pass the sustainability test, they may not buy from you again.

If you need to make your fulfilment green, then follow these tips to become more eco-friendly.

Choose the Right Type of Packaging

Your packaging is the most obvious place to start when looking to keep your fulfilment green. You’ll want to pick a material that is less likely to end up in a landfill. But if it does, then it won’t take centuries to erode.

You’ll want to choose from a recyclable, reusable, or compostable material. Cardboard boxes are still the most reliable and protect most products during shipping. You can use double-corrugated for items with sharp edges. Reusable packaging encourages your customer to either send the parcel back or use it for another use before recycling. Compostable materials are ideal for satchels. They take about two years to break down compared to 400 years for the plastic alternative.

Use Eco-Friendly Packing Materials

Depending on what you’re shipping, you may require additional packaging materials to protect your items. Thankfully, there are sustainable products that can keep them safe. You’ll find compost sticky tape rolls made from vegan products and shipping labels created using sugarcane. They are compatible with all devices, which you can use to print directly from Interparcel.

For the inside of your parcel, you can use packaging materials like Hex Wrap to keep your fulfilment green. If you need additional packaging, consider using paper or padded satchels to protect the items you’re shipping.

Pack Your Parcel Smartly

One of the biggest mistakes many businesses make when sending parcels is shipping small items in large boxes. The package ends up full of materials to protect a small object. It’s even worse for multi-item orders where they come individually instead of in one parcel.

With Interparcel’s Smart Boxing technology, you can get the advice you need to package multi-item orders into as few boxes as possible. Simply upload the dimensions of your shipping boxes and your products, and Smart Boxing will do the rest. You’ll not only be saving money on packaging materials but saving the environment at the same time.

Pick the Right Courier Service to Keep Fulfilment Green

If you’re keeping your fulfilment green, you must choose partners who can help support your cause. When you use a multicarrier shipping solution, you can access multiple courier services with sustainable policies and practices. Some you can utilise today include:

1. Couriers Please are on their way to becoming carbon neutral by 2025
2. UPS has invested in electric vehicles and alternative fuel fleets
3. Aramex is investing in renewable and alternative energies and technology
4. Bonds have a solar-charged electric vehicle and bicycle fleet on the roads now
5. DHL uses electric cars, bicycles for last mile deliveries, and carbon-reduced air freight
6. FedEx has reduced fuel consumption, introduced electric vehicles, invested in alternative fuels and is investigating renewable energy solutions
7. TNT is reducing CO2 emissions and has a roadmap to being carbon neutral

How to Find an Eco-Friendly Courier Service

Making your fulfilment green goes beyond the packaging material you use. While this plays a part, you must also consider the items inside your parcel to protect products. How you ship multi-item orders and the courier service you partner with to deliver your package is also vital.

With Interparcel’s multicarrier shipping solutions, you can easily find the right courier service that meets your needs, budget, and environmental beliefs. You can even use features like Smart Boxing to pack your parcel in the most efficient way possible. Learn more here about Interparcel can support you to keep your fulfilment green.