From my interview with the Morgans and my own experiences, I see a lot of changes happening in this area currently. The family I stayed with received at least one Amazon packet a day even though they complained about some of their favorite stores having to close down due to big online competitors like Amazon. My interview with the Morgans helped me to understand their reasons for buying online. 

  

Lea: What are your average monthly purchases…?

Clara (14): We don’t shop for clothes that much. We only do like a big “back-to-school-shopping*" or when we need new clothes.

Julia (12): My mom, every Monday, goes out and runs errands*.

Clara: I’d say, probably Giant Eagle* and Target* are where we find everyday things. Well, obviously, food. But whenever we need mom’s make-up or batteries…

Bane (42): Amazon. 

Sophie (41): I buy something from Amazon, every day. Literally*. I went up to the bathroom; Bane had left his gel out so I could see it was empty. I scanned the barcode, and it’s on its way. Because I don’t have to pay for shipping I can order without thinking about that. It’s just that it’s out of my mind then.

Bane: I think, Amazon, it’s also made it worse sustainability-wise because…

Sophie: They killed the planet.

Bane: Yeah. Because, now, we have a guy drive to our house for everything that we want, delivered in separate boxes. And we are not going one time to the grocery store. 

»It's like Amazon provided crack cocaine and now they have addicts. I’m an addict, too. They are killing so many things because of it. I mean, I buy it on there, too. But at some point, how do you not?« 

Sophie: And the packaging is one-time-use, and no one recycles it. They are trying to start an Amazon day. That was their way of saying, “Oh, we don’t ship every time to you. We only ship once a week.” But everyone wants it right now. I ordered something on Amazon, and it was at my house the next day. It’s like Amazon provided crack cocaine and now they have addicts. I’m an addict, too. They are killing so many things because of it. I mean, I buy it on there, too. But at some point, how do you not? For example, Clara and I, we went shopping to buy a homecoming dress – we actually went shopping. And we bought a dress, but it is cut down in a way that she needs to wear a special bra. I could go to seven stores trying to find that bra, or in thirty seconds it’s on its way to my house. 

Bane: And most times I go to a store and they don’t have what I want. I think, “Why was I so dumb to even come here?” I could have ordered exactly what I wanted, and by the time I actually got there it would have been delivered to my house.

Sophie: Because of Amazon I go to Giant Eagle once a week, and I go to Target, once a week, sometimes twice a week. That’s it. If Giant Eagle and Target don’t sell it, and I can’t get it on Amazon, then we don’t own it. And only on special occasions*, like once a year, do I take the girls “back-to-school-clothes-shopping”.  We actually go to the outlets, and they try on stuff. At Christmas time, back-to-school, and rare occasions like when she wanted a homecoming dress and we went homecoming-dress-shopping. But other than that, we don’t shop. 

Bane: And you know, with Amazon Prime it’s 99 bucks* a year. So with that one-time price, they get to bring it to your house the next day. And I do that for the office. I bet I have a dozens of addresses that I ship stuff from our amazon account to. And they’ll deliver it anywhere. So, I can buy it right now, and I can send it to my office 50 miles from my house. 

Sophie: And another thing is… I know, we are like cheerleading for Amazon right now, and it’s not the best thing, but it’s so convenient. I said: “Julia, the birthday party next weekend; what do you want to get her?” Twenty minutes later she goes,” Mom, it’s all in your Amazon cart, what I want. Look at it to make sure it’s okay.” So, I look, I saw what she put in. I was like “click” and all the stuff came. They had wrapped it all up. 

Bane: I don’t have to carry it, I don’t have to put it together. 

Lea: Do you go grocery shopping or do you get that delivered, too?

Sophie: I order it online, I drive up, and they put it in the back of my car. They pick the food for me. You can elect to have a delivery, but I don’t, I drive to pick it up. 

Lea: And whenever you buy those things, do you look for organic food or fair trade or social labels?

Sophie: I don’t.  The farm-shared produce are not necessarily organic either but they’re local. 

Julia: No.

Clara: I think just kind of what’s there.

A short explanation of the so-called curbside express at Giant Eagle. (Giant Eagle on YouTube)

#Goinggreen