RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—You've spent a great deal of time thinking exactly what to get everyone on your list. But have you given any thought to who'll be delivering your eco gifts to the out-of-town recipients? December is the busiest month of the year for package-delivery companies like FedEx and UPS, and it's also the time of year when, moving upwards of a billion packages, those companies produce the largest amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Is there a way to get your perfectly wrapped packages from point A to point B without also adding to excess greenhouse gas emissions? We turned to the results of a new report to find out.
This: FedEx
FedEx has paid a lot of attention to its packaging to make it as reusable and recyclable as possible. Its envelopes are made with 100 percent recycled content, and are designed to be used at least twice, while their boxes contain at least 70 percent recycled content. The company has also developed recycled-cardboard alternatives to packing peanuts, which are usually made from nonrecyclable polystyrene foam. FedEx was also one of the first shipping companies to switch to hybrid-fuel trucks, and according to their corporate website, they'll be moving 325 hybrid-electric and electric vehicles and more than 1,800 alternative-fuel vehicles and equipment around the world by the end of this year. Since their air fleet is even larger, three times the size of UPS's, FedEx has started purchasing more efficient aircraft as well, in an effort to reduce that sector's fuel consumption by 18 percent.
That: UPS
Like FedEx, UPS has worked to improve the reusability and recyclability of its packaging materials, designing 100 percent recycled-fiber envelopes that can be reused, and incorporating as much as 90 percent recycled fiber into some of its boxes. Because UPS has a larger truck fleet than FedEx, it has paid more attention to fuel consumption, educating its drivers on how to drive more efficiently, and even posting a video on YouTub to share their tips with ordinary drivers. In one of its more creative moves, the company recalculated all its routes so drivers didn't need to make left turns (idling while waiting to make the turn wastes gas and increases emissions). By replacing one left turn with four right turns, they found that their drivers saved 51,000 gallons of fuel and 558 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the span of 18 months. Finally, UPS offers business customers the option of choosing how their package gets delivered (by ship, freight, air, or truck) so customers can watch their carbon bottom line as well.
This or That?
Go with…That. UPS. Both companies are to be applauded for their efforts to ease the environmental impact of package delivery. But in a report published at the end of November, the nonprofit group Climate Counts ranked UPS the greenest of all the major shipping companies, due to its efforts to cut its carbon footprint. Climate Counts gave UPS a score of 69 points out of a possible 100, compared with FedEx's 55, for more accurately calculating its greenhouse gas emissions and having those calculations audited by an independent third party, for taking measurable steps to reduce those emissions, for making their measurements publicly available, and for supporting climate legislation. While FedEx has taken a more vocal stance on federal climate-change legislation than UPS, the company lost ground when it came to its efforts to measure and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
Those aren't you're only options, though. Falling between UPS and FedEx in the Climate Counts rankings is the oft-forgotten Postal Service. It scored a 56 for its green efforts, which include providing opportunities for customers to recycle junk mail, greening its fleet with alternative-fuel vehicles, and allowing customers to have packages picked up from home as their daily mail is being delivered, saving the gas needed to get to the Post Office and obviating the need for a UPS or FedEx to make an extra trip.
Regardless of how you ship your packages, there are a few ways you can cut down on waste this holiday season by recycling:
• Go Dumpster-diving. Bookstores, liquor stores, and grocery stores all toss out sturdy boxes at the end of the day. Ask the store manager if you can have a few—they may provide them for free—or see if there are any tossed in the Dumpster out back at the end of the day (just make sure it's legal to do that first!). If those searches turn up empty, check Craigslist to see if any new neighbors that have just moved in are looking to unload their empty moving boxes. (Or knock on some doors—it's a great excuse to say hello to that new family down the block. Bring cookies.) Remove any old labels before shipping.
• Hold the peanuts. Even though you can recycle those foam peanuts at UPS stores and some FedEx locations, look for alternatives before you resort to using them. Shredded wrapping paper from last year's Christmas, padded envelopes that are too beat up or an unusual size, or ordinary plastic bags will all work in lieu of those annoying, clingy, polystyrene foam nuts (which are not only made from oil, a nonrenewable resource, but they get blown off garbage trucks and are fatally consumed by wildlife).