In our ever-shrinking world, I can, with just a few quick clicks on my computer, order fresh -- or even live -- lobster from Maine and receive it in San Francisco the next day. Or I can have pints of custard shipped from my favorite Milwaukee hamburger joint straight to my Aunt Florence in Tucson. But I can't do these things without realizing that they have a bigger environmental impact than if I were to suffice with eating from the bounty of Pacific Ocean seafood right out my front door, or just send Aunt Flo a gift certificate for some tasty dessert closer to her home.

Consumers began thinking about the impact of product transport a few years ago, and perhaps one of the poster children was the ubiquitous Fiji bottled water. Given the seriously long haul of shipping Fiji water around the world from the South Pacific, it stood out among other bottled water companies that environmentalists noted are selling us something that we can also get free from our kitchen taps, and that sellers of bottled water are using up a tremendous amount of oil and emitted greenhouse gases in the process.

In response to the growing concern over the environmental impacts of bottled water, Fiji Water made sweeping changes to its business after releasing the results of an audit of its operations, which showed that 40 percent of the company's carbon footprint comes from ocean freight and distribution.

By 2010, Fiji Water aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent and it has reduced trucking miles by an average of 26 percent, cut fuel use by its trucks in Fiji in half and will be testing bottles made from 100 recycled materials.

In making these changes, the company indicates that reducing the environmental impact of its shipping operations is not just good for business, but also key to strengthening -- or saving -- its customer relationships. But as fuel has reached, and then broken, long-standing price records, the greening of shipping has become not just a good business idea, but a necessity.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, rail and truck transport consume more 35 billion gallons of diesel fuel in the U.S. per year. That represents more than 350 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, and based on current trends, this could reach 450 million metric tons by 2012.

So what are the public and private sectors doing to reduce the environmental impacts of shipping and logistics activities? Governmental organization from city to national levels are enacting laws that will lighten the carbon footprint imposed by our need for fuel and our transportation practices, while companies are making changes to their businesses that make every element of the supply chain -- from packaging, to transport mode, to sourcing decisions -- more efficient.

Legislation and Policy

Starting at the point of purchase and working our way back through the supply chain, a number of legislative and policy developments are shaping up to lessen resource consumption linked to packaging and shipping consumer goods.

On June 1, China's government banned the free distribution of disposable plastic bags by retailers. While this is related to transportation only insomuch as it should reduce the amount of plastic bags shipped to merchants, it will likely have a big impact in terms of fuel savings. China refines nearly 5 million tons (37 million barrels) of crude oil each year to make plastics used for packaging -- and the rampant littering of the bags across the country has come to be known as white pollution. And China is not alone; in the U.S., California cities San Francisco and Malibu have enacted bans on the bags, and many other cities are considering banning them, as well.