No, they're not random words strung together. The following is an actual conversation (originally about saving money) that made me headdesk hard, and yet I think the lack of thought is not atypical.
Person 1: I need a camera battery charger. I can go to the local Circuit City/Compusa/Radioshack and get one for about $40. Or I can order one online–including shipping, for about $18. It is the same thing, and if I can wait 5 days for postal service, it is much cheaper.
Person 2: Of course then you run into the whole carbon footprint local vs non-local issue.
P1: I’m pretty sure that no matter how I get my battery charger , it is going to be of non-local origins.
P2: I don’t think you understand my point. BUYING locally.
Head, meet desk.
I've read that in any given purchase, the biggest contribution to the object's carbon footprint occurs in the drive from the store to your home. I don't know if that's literally true and in what cases, but the important point is to remember that economies of scale have a big factor. A single skein of alpaca yarn goes from raw fiber in Peru to scouring in China (virtually all wool and most other animal fibers are cleaned in China due to more lax environmental and worker safety laws) to spinning God Knows Where to warehouse to store. That's a lot of travel. But Peru-China-GodKnow all go by boat in quantities of several thousand tons at a time. GodKnows to warehouse goes by the semi full, which is around 10 to 20 tons. Warehouse to store goes several hundred pounds. Store to my house is 100 grams. You can see how the division works out.
In the particular case mentioned, the mail truck is coming to your house whether it carries a charger or not, while if you buy it locally, you have to go out in your personal vehicle to get it. Thus unless there are unusual mitigating circumstances, buying online actually has a lower carbon footprint.
If you are buying something produced locally, you are cutting down on some of the carbon footprint. (In my example, the Peru-China-Godknows-Warehouse portion goes away). For something produced remotely, there are many good reasons to buy local, but carbon footprint is not one of them.
Critical thought: it is your friend.
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