Mona Benisi, senior director of sustainability at Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE: SPG), joined Nareit for a video interview at Nareit’s 2017 Leader in the Light Working Forum at the Hilton Austin in Austin, Texas.
Benisi discussed a study conducted last year by Simon Property in conjunction with Deloitte Consulting examining the environmental impact of all material, energy and fuels attributable to a product in its lifecycle. According to the study, online shopping has a 7 percent greater environmental impact versus brick-and-mortar shopping every year.
Benisi also noted that the study concluded that customers travel to the mall in groups, which lowers the environmental impact per product bought. Additionally, the last mile of online delivery is very fuel intensive.
Benisi said the study should encourage consumers to think carefully about their shopping behavior.