In the build-up to Christmas, we spend time and money seeking out the perfect present for our loved ones.
While the increased consumption the festive period facilitates might lie slightly beyond the scope of the transport focus of this column, it does seem like a good time to consider the process through which the things we buy online come to arrive at our front door.
The traditional trip to the shops is increasingly replaced or supported by virtual shopping trips.
Online shopping has revolutionised our shopping practices; it is ''the new retail reality''.
In 2012, 1.8 million New Zealanders made an online purchase.
Not all online purchases are physical in nature. Some are electronic - tickets, music and books are all delivered straight to our mobile devices.
A study by the New Zealand Retailers Association found the total value of online purchases to be in the order of $5 billion, including about $1.6 billion of electronic delivery such as downloads.
The study also addressed the significance of overseas shopping websites, with more than 60% of their respondents buying products from overseas and therefore requiring international delivery.
Many websites even offer free postage to New Zealand, providing an incentive to go on a globalised online shopping spree.
In the UK it has been estimated that nearly a quarter of this year's Christmas shopping will be done online.
Delivery of these goods is putting pressure on retailers.
While internet shopping might reduce the number of trips to the town centre, there is no guarantee that it replaces physical shopping trips.
Moreover, these practices have resulted in changing demands for urban freight, with a range of environmental consequences.
Increasing amounts of freight, driven in internal-combustion-engine vans, contributes to increased air pollution in the urban environment, adds to congestion during working hours and contributes to growing transport-related CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions.
While internet shopping can reduce the need to battle through busy shops and stand in long queues, waiting for deliveries can also be quite infuriating: expecting a delivery between midday and 4pm doesn't fit particularly well with modern lifestyles, or the working week!
However, technologies are improving home-delivery systems; for example, leading to 30-minute time slots for delivery.
Yet I think it is important that we consider where our purchases are coming from and the environmental impacts (including carbon footprint) of these items. Can we support local products, local shops and sustainable delivery modes?
• Dr Debbie Hopkins is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Otago Centre for Sustainability. Each week in this column one of a panel of writers addresses issues of sustainability.
