EarthTalk® – Is Amazon.com an environmental hero or villain?

From the Editors of E – The Environmental MagazineDear EarthTalk: Is Amazon.com an environmental hero or villain?                     — J. West, Orange, CA

Not surprisingly, Amazon.com’s environmental performance is a mixed bag. One charge often levied by critics is that Amazon’s low pricing and expedited shipping encourages customers to spend more on more unnecessary stuff, further exacerbating our already rampant consumerism. Likewise, critics charge that the company’s “Prime” servi...