One way companies like Amazon try to minimize that is by placing their supply chain closer to customers to reduce mileage and improve speed for the customer. Their goal is to make the journey fast and effective, but reduce its emissions at the same time.

“By really leveraging our supply chain efficiencies that we have at scale, we’re able to both offer better speed and sustainability outcomes at the same time,” said Chris Atkins, director of Worldwide Operations Sustainability at Amazon.

Greenwashing. Amazon doesn’t give two shits about emissions, only about costs. You can order 5 items at once with grouped shipping but still have them show up in 4 different deliveries over the subsequent 3 days.

People are more likely to delay or consolidate orders once they understand the environmental impact of fast shipping, according to Sreedevi

That part is true, which is why Amazon offers “lower carbon delivery” as one of its slower options. But it’s primarily emotional manipulation of customers to reduce their timeliness expectations. Reduced emissions just happen to be a side effect that’s convenient to emphasize.