My wife and I use online grocery service FreshDirect frequently and while we understand the environmental impact of packaging and transportation driven by online ordering isn't ideal, we find the convenience of the service extremely attractive. We have often received orders with a large cardboard box containing only one item and considered stopping our usage.
That is, until recently. Over the past few months, I've noticed that our deliveries seem to fit into fewer boxes. I wasn't sure that this was actually happening until I read an article in the New York Times a few days ago entitled "Delivering More Groceries, and Fewer Boxes" which explained that over the past year, FD has reduced the number of boxes by 1.5 million boxes! That translates to an almost 25% reduction in boxes. The system to allow them to do this cost them over $1 million in hardware and an unspecified amount in training and software, but it is clearly a sustainable choice. What's more exciting is that this is only one step on a new sustainability program for the company who is moving from boxes to paper bags next year and converting their fleet of over 170 delivery trucks to run on biofuel. Not only have they reduced their environmental impact, they have made customers and drivers happier as well. This is a clear example of a sustainable decision that will improve customer and employee satisfaction, reduce cost and reduce environmental impact. Kudos to FreshDirect.
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