Extreme Temperature Diary- Monday October 30th, 2023/Main Topic: Sustainable Shipping Practices

guyonclimate_mi5tor

The main purpose of this ongoing blog will be to track planetary extreme, or record temperatures related to climate change. Any reports I see of ETs will be listed below the main topic of the day. I’ll refer to record temperatures as ETs (not extraterrestrials).😉

Main Topic: Sustainable Shipping Practices

Dear Diary. I have been asked to repost an article written just for this site on shipping practices, which I’m doing for today’s main topic. The state of our current lifestyles is very bad for the environment. Many items are manufactured then packaged and then shipped direct to people, requiring more packaging than ever before as consumerism ramps up while world economies remain O.K. All of this requires a lot of energy and, you guessed it, a lot of carbon. In light of the climate crisis, it behooves companies to move items using the least amount of energy possible…and if possible, via electric vehicles.

The following article describes how companies can and should ship items with the least harmful effect on our environment:

Sustainable Shipping Practices: Maximizing the Shelf Life of Temperature Sensitive Products During Climate Crisis – Google Docs

Image Source: Pexels

Sustainable Shipping Practices: Maximizing the Shelf Life of Temperature Sensitive Products During Climate Crisis

The summer of 2023 was touted as the planet’s hottest one yet. No, this is not a feat worth celebrating. It’s another reason to continue sounding the alarm. And if you’re a business owner handling temperature-sensitive products, climate change should be just as or even more worrying.

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, speed is a crucial factor. But that doesn’t mean quality should take a backseat. This is especially true when dealing with temperature-sensitive items. You need to deliver and deliver at the right temperature for it to count.

However, this is easier said than done. Shipping temperature-sensitive items requires solid transport planning and forward-thinking. And in the climate crisis we’re in, doing business sustainably is key. That means you also need to be conscious of the environmental footprint your business leaves behind whenever you prepare, pack, and ship your goods.

So, what exactly does sustainable shipping entail? In this blog, we’ll look into the various practical yet effective ways to ship temperature-sensitive products while minimizing environmental impact.

Top Tips: Sustainable Shipping of Temperature-Sensitive Goods

Are you a business owner who wants to enhance your eco-friendly efforts? Or do you need cost-effective ways to sustainably ship your products while maintaining temperature stability? Whatever the case may be, you need to adopt these top tips to sustainably move your goods without the costly temperature fluctuations:

Efficient Warehouse Management

Sustainable shipping should start with efficient warehouse management. It’s essential to have a holistic approach to sustainable business operations to maximize your impact. In addition, preserving the quality of your goods while in storage helps increase the chances of maintaining its quality while in transit.

Consider installing energy-efficient cooling and heating systems like evaporating cooling or high-efficiency heat pumps to maintain the right temperature in your warehouse.

Another factor that can impact temperature is the inventory levels. Overstocking and understocking can significantly impact the climate in stockrooms. For example, too many stocks can lead to unnecessary warm temperature levels and require more energy to cool the warehouse.

Poor conditions and inefficient inventory levels can be avoided with both modern tools and useful inventory management practices. Data analytics can help you forecast more accurately, allowing you only to store the optimal number of stocks of a certain product. This is especially crucial when handling easily perishable and temperature-sensitive goods. The First-In-First-Out inventory method is an approach that can be done with or without modern tools. It’s a widely-used method that basically means you must ship out older inventory before new ones to avoid spoilage and better track stock movement.

Eco-Friendly Packaging

Another simple way to sustainably ship your temperature-sensitive goods is using eco-friendly packing methods. Using the right-sized boxes or pouches helps reduce the excess weight and space, allowing you to maximize the space in your transport vehicle, lessening the need for more trips and emissions.

You can also consider reusable insulated packaging to stabilize the temperature of your goods while in transit. This helps preserve the products being delivered while cutting down the need to buy new packaging every time you ship out to your buyers.

Of course, it’s important to note that you can find environmentally-friendly packaging for whatever use. Whether it’s biodegradable packing peanuts or seaweed packaging, little changes to your daily operations can help contribute to a more sustainable business landscape.

Improve Route Planning

Planning delivery routes is an excellent way to reduce fuel consumption. And the longer your products are in transit, the higher the risk of temperature fluctuations. By improving your route planning, you can cut down the duration of deliveries and get your product to your buyer’s door faster. All these help avoid the additional cost and environmental impact of reshipment to replace damaged or spoiled goods.

Another way to improve your deliveries is by using energy-efficient vehicles. Using alternative transportation modes like electric or hybrid trucks or even trains for long-distance shipments can help reduce the environmental impact of each delivery.

Supply Chain Optimization

Another way to maximize the effects of your eco-friendly efforts is by collaborating with your supply chain partners. Working with your suppliers, truckers, and retail partners can help ensure your plan will help optimize the whole life cycle of your products. You can also work together to identify unnecessary steps in the supply chain that you can eliminate to reduce time in transit and the risk of product damage due to fluctuating temperatures.

Conclusion

Doing your business responsibly has taken a bigger meaning in light of the growing consciousness around climate change. If you want to sustainably sell temperature-sensitive products, adopting the most eco-friendly business practices is crucial. This way, you’re not just keeping your customers and shareholders happy with the quality of the product; you’re also contributing to steering the industry toward a more sustainable future.

It’s also important to stay up-to-date with environmental regulations and safety standards. Doing so ensures you’re shipping your temperature-sensitive products legally and safely, protecting you from costly penalties and regulatory issues. You must also welcome continuous improvement. The sustainable movement is continuously evolving. New technologies and industry best practices will surely come up. Consider learning and adopting these new methods to keep your cool (or warmth) even in a highly competitive business landscape.

Here are some “ET’s” recorded from around the planet the last couple of days, their consequences, and some extreme temperature outlooks, as well as any extreme precipitation reports:

Here is More Climate and Weather News from Monday:

(As usual, this will be a fluid post in which more information gets added during the day as it crosses my radar, crediting all who have put it on-line. Items will be archived on this site for posterity. In most instances click on the pictures of each tweet to see each article. The most noteworthy items will be listed first.)

Today’s News on Sustainable, Traditional Polluting Energy from Fossil Fuel, and the Green Revolution:

More from the Weather Department:

More on the Environment and Nature:

More on Other Science and the Beauty of Earth and this Universe:

If you like these posts and my work on record temperature ratios, please contribute via my PayPal widget on this site. Thanks in advance for any support. 

Guy Walton… “The Climate Guy”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *