If you still have to shop on Amazon for one reason or another, but you don’t need the things you’re ordering as fast as possible, Amazon will sometimes have an option for a later delivery time.

The option is sometimes marked as a “Lower Carbon” or a “No Rush” delivery. Sometimes, these options will have a little bit of text under them saying you get a “digital reward” if you pick that option. That reward credit can’t be used towards regular products, but it can be used towards digital items, such as music.

If you didn’t know, you can still buy MP3s of songs from Amazon Music for most of the artists on their platform. (though I wouldn’t recommend doing this without the credit, since their prices are higher than most other marketplaces like Bandcamp, Qobuz, etc)

Essentially, if you choose to get your package a bit later:

• The shipping process can optimize for scale over speed, which reduces carbon emissions, and makes the jobs of delivery drivers and warehouse workers a little bit easier
• You get free money you can throw at musicians to own their music instead of being reliant on a subscription service

If you have the credit, (it can sometimes take a few days to show up after the delivery, they’ll email you) you just go to Amazon Music, find an album, go to the album’s page, then select MP3 Music under Purchase Options and it’ll let you download it right away!

You can see how much credit you have in your account, then way down at the bottom in the Shopping programs and rentals section under No-Rush rewards summary.

This is a good way to make any packages you do still have to order on Amazon a little better for people and the planet, and it also gets you some free music while supporting the artists you like. If you’re building a local music collection like me, this is a good way to add onto that!