We’re shopping a ton online. Let’s be conscientious about it

Online shopping in a pandemic feels like a constant ethical dilemma.

You may be buying jigsaw puzzles to occupy yourself in quarantine life. But is it worth stressing the workers who pack, ship and deliver something you don’t need? But, businesses need your dollars right now, and people need work.

It’s exhausting to balance our safety, that of others and the financial health of our communities.

Here’s a rough blueprint of how to be a conscientious shopper in a pandemic, developed in consultation with Sally Bergesen, founder and chief executive of athletic apparel company Oiselle.

1. Think. Consider whether the company you’re buying from needs the business, and how many people involved in the purchase might be in harm’s way. Think about whether what you’re buying can wait for more normal times. And keep thinking about our personal responsibility as shoppers when this crisis subsides.

Thinking won’t cure disease, but it matters.

2. Patronise the businesses that you want to see survive in the future. The pandemic-created economic freeze is likely to leave big companies in better shape than smaller ones. If we want more than Walmart, Amazon and McDonald’s in our economy, our behaviour can make a difference.

3. Consider cutting the number of steps between you and your purchases. If you order takeout from a local burger restaurant, calling it directly rather than ordering from an app like DoorDash could put more money into that restaurant’s pocket.

If you do use an app like Instacart to hire someone to deliver or shop for you, tip that person what you can afford.

4. Think about the conditions for people packing and delivering what you buy online. Have companies made sure there’s more space between each worker at their warehouses, and imposed cleaning and sanitation mandates?

You can’t necessarily tell what happens in the path from online order to your doorstep. If you’re not sure, maybe your purchase can wait. Puzzles are important if your toddler needs to stay entertained, but perhaps less so for adults. There’s a trade-off, of course. Your puzzle money might be someone else’s badly needed revenue.

“If you can find ways to help individuals and smaller businesses, then the balance goes in favor of that,” said Ellis Jones, author of “The Better World Shopping Guide” and a sociology professor at the College of the Holy Cross.

Even before a pandemic, it was easy to scroll Instagram and buy something you didn’t need, or get deliveries every day from Amazon. Those choices have consequences in environmental harm and traffic congestion.

Now and in the future, our choices add up. Use your money to support a world you want.

©2020 The New York Times Company