Shopping on the internet always seems like the environmentally sound choice for eco-aware consumers, especially to get rid of those regular trips to the supermarket by car. For some time now online retailers claim that it is more efficient for one van to deliver to several addresses than for each household to travel by car to the shops.

However, according to a recent article published in The Times shows that this may not be the case, and that though such lifestyle changes as purchasing online maybe cutting down the number of cars on the road, it is in fact increasing the number of vans and lorries on UK roads.

The article reveals that "British households spend more than £3billion a month on internet goods and in April online spending rose by 55 per cent compared with the same month last year." Which may have had a large effect on the news that "The number of vans on the road has increased by almost a third, or more than 730,000, in the past decade."

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article2039853.ece