According to recent headlines, UPS is going to be phasing in a greenhouse gas emissions offset option for their shipments in order to satiate green customers’ desires. This is because customers are often (rightfully) worried that when they ship items through the mail, they are causing greenhouse gases to be emitted into the atmosphere.
Shipwire merchants, your comments are wanted. Do you want Shipwire to offer you the ability to automatically elect to buy carbon offsets when you ship from Shipwire warehouses?
This is how it works: customers can opt into an optional fee of 5 ¢ for UPS ground services and 20 ¢ for next-day, second-day, or three-day select services. This fee will go to buying carbon offset credits – basically taking pollution credits off the market. This way, customers can feel that their shipments are not causing a net gain in carbon dioxide in the air.
Not only is UPS offering carbon offsetting, but they are verifying the process through a third party organization, Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS). SGS will, according to UPS, verify that the fees are actually offsetting the carbon footprints of shipping.
Why is UPS offering this service? UPS spokespeople state it is because customers are becoming more and more environmentally minded and would feel much more comfortable shipping items if they knew that they were taking part in a carbon neutral transaction. Who could blame them? It’s a smart move for UPS, a smart move for consumers, and is an action that will hopefully benefit the environment. We’ll be curious to see what the adoption is.
UPS plans to publicly roll out this new feature in 2010.
Posted by:
Nate Gilmore
Nate oversees our channel development and developer network, as well as our marketing and public relations. Previously, Nate was at Concentric, acquired by XO Communications, where he ran product management, sales and marketing. Over his six year career with Concentric, he developed dozens of new business channels, by initiating new products for small- and mid- size businesses, developing partner programs for those products, and working with web developers and systems integrators to provide ongoing support of those products. Nate has also held various legal positions in intellectual property and business law. He holds a B.A. in History, and a J.D., from Santa Clara University.
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