Instant gratification, lasting damage: The environmental cost of quick commerce

In March, Nayana Premnath, a Bengaluru-based influencer who promotes sustainable and mindful living, initiated a ‘NoFoodDeliveryMarch’ challenge. Premnath asked her 60,000-odd followers to skip online deliveries and choose home-cooked meals instead. In a post on her Instagram broadcast channel, she wrote that this would mean less waste, more savings, and healthier meals.

Premnath’s aversion to the convenience of online food delivery extends to other impulse e-commerce purchases, too, including the current flavour of the season—quick commerce. “At our home, we try to step out and buy things ourselves. If at all it is necessary and we can’t find what we need nearby, then we choose the 2-3 hour delivery option on BigBasket. They bring multiple orders together, so it saves trips for the delivery partner,” Premnath tells The CapTable.

From buying unnecessary things to fulfil the minimum order value required for free delivery, to increased carbon footprints and traffic congestion, Premnath offers a laundry list of reasons not to order online.

She isn’t alone.