The Best Excuse Ever for Getting Your Groceries Delivered: It's Greener

Delivery trucks are typically heavy, diesel-burning beasts that churn out clouds of exhaust – not the greatest thing for the environment. But if grocery-store owners and consumers were to use them smartly, these boxy vehicles might in fact reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, according to new research.

The climate-changing qualities of services like FreshDirect, Peapod and Google's trial project in San Francisco are the subject of a recent study by Anne Goodchild and Erica Wygonik, engineers at the University of Washington. They found that the traditional method of grocery shopping in America – driving to and from a store – is much less friendly to the overheated atmosphere than simply ordering the supplies online. The difference they detected is stark: Going the delivery truck-route reduced CO2 emissions by at least half in their model, compared to car trips.