Our love affair with online shopping may be good for the global economy but is costing us the planet.

According to Australia Post’s 2024 e-commerce report, more households are shopping online than ever, with 8 in 10 households making a purchase on the internet in 2023. At the same time, e-commerce has accelerated environmental degradation, adding tonnes of plastic waste to landfills and oceans.

The same report shows that on average, 5.6 million households made an online purchase at least once a month. Not only are the number of purchases going up, but sales events like EOFY and Black Friday are rising in popularity and have become somewhat of a tradition for Australian shoppers. Hyper-convenient, price-competitive retail giants like Amazon and Shein have transformed the face of e-commerce. While it’s clear we’re unlikely to break up with same-day delivery, we need to rethink our relationship with consumerism if we want to save the planet.

The CSIRO estimates that Australia is one of the biggest consumers of single-use plastic per person in the world, averaging 100kg per person per year. Sadly only 13% of that amount is recycled. The immediate impact of the plastic pollution crisis is on sensitive ecosystems and wildlife, particularly marine wildlife like turtles, seals, and birds, which ingest and become tangled up in plastic waste. Our coastlines are becoming inundated with plastic waste which then breaks down and enters the food chain in the form of microplastics.

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Australians happen to pay the highest price for bottled water in the world and are the world’s second-biggest consumers of bottled water, a resource that we allow to be harvested for free by multinational corporations which then sell it back to us for a vastly inflated sum. At the same time manufacturing bottled water creates vast streams of fossil-fuelled waste — the bottle itself is only able to be recycled a finite number of times, and bottled water contains a significant quantity of microplastics.

Microplastics’ effect on human health is only just beginning to be explored but the findings so far are alarming. In one landmark study, humans who ingest microplastics have been found to be at increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and death. Consumerism is not only killing our planet, but it’s slowly poisoning us too. A ban on single-use plastics can only go so far if consumers aren’t willing to change their habits.

Without a regulatory body to govern its use, the term “biodegradable” is mere greenwashing by marketing departments keen to jump on the sustainability bandwagon. Consumers aren’t any wiser on whether biodegradable products degrade in a matter of days or 100 years though businesses are aware they do care about their environmental footprint.

When it comes to pushing for more accountability, consumers should never underestimate their ability to trigger change. As individuals, we need to value ourselves and the planet more.

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For the sake of our wellbeing and that of the environment we urgently need to reset our toxic relationship with online shopping. Whether we have a bad fast-fashion habit, an overdependence on convenience foods, or an addiction to beauty, there are a number of eco-friendly alternatives out there that won’t damage the earth.

Environmental change starts at home and the side effect is it can help us consume less toxins and improve our health at the same time. Reducing our energy use by ditching the car in favour of walking or public transport is a great starting point. So is cutting down on online shopping and being more mindful of the products and processes we use to maintain our homes.

A good rule of thumb is to be as minimalist as possible. If you can, try to go without it or find a more natural substitute. In the cold months trade synthetic fibres for temperature-regulating linen and wool. Take care of your clothing and soft furnishings, buy second-hand, or if you must, buy good quality items that are built to last.

Consider embracing the circular economy and the key principles of the zero-waste mindset: reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose, and most importantly, refuse. This Plastic Free July, ditch plastic to discover the upsides to your wallet, your health, and the environment.