The Texas-based small-business shipper, in partnership with South Pole, will offset merchants’ shipping emissions by funding a renewable energy project in Oklahoma.
Just in time for this year’s holiday “shipageddon,”
ShippingEasy
— a cloud-based shipping, tracking and customer marketing platform for ecommerce
sellers — has launched The Greenest Way to
Ship.
Developed in partnership with leading global climate solutions provider and
carbon project developer South
Pole,
the initiative will see ShippingEasy cover the cost for merchants using its
discounted shipping rates to offset the carbon emissions of packages shipped
during the holidays.
Recent
research
found that 56 percent of consumers surveyed globally said that they would accept
a longer delivery time to make their online deliveries more sustainable. With
The Greenest Way to Ship, ShippingEasy merchants can promote the sustainability
consumers want without sacrificing delivery speed.
“Our goal is to help merchants successfully start and run their ecommerce
businesses,” said Chris
Vaughn, General Manager of
ShippingEasy. “I’m very proud to share that now we can also help them go carbon
neutral during their busiest season.”
Carbon offsetting has quickly become a central component of many companies’
carbon-reduction
strategies;
but many small businesses don’t have the capacity for it. And while the rapidly
growing voluntary carbon market must still address some fundamental
flaws
in order to become a reliable and effective climate solution, carbon offsets can
benefit both people and the
environment
if employed correctly. So, ShippingEasy is aiming to help smaller businesses
start making a dent in their footprint by providing easy access to
carbon-neutral shipping during the busiest and most impactful time of the year:
For each shipment placed through The Greenest Way to Ship, ShippingEasy will
calculate its carbon impact based on the distance the shipment will travel and
its mode of transportation. Then, the company will purchase a corresponding
carbon offset from The Dempsey Ridge
Project
— a zero emissions, grid-connected, wind energy source in Oklahoma.
The 50 Liter Home: Lessons from a multi-industry global collaboration
Join us as leaders from Electrolux and Procter & Gamble share insights and progress to date on ‘The 50 Liter Home’ — a partnership aimed at reducing water consumption in the home, while also generating awareness that leads to better lifestyle choices for sustainable water use — Wednesday, Oct. 16, at SB'24 San Diego.
Our instant-gratification shopping culture is taking an increasing toll on the
environment. In April, Sendle — a 100 percent carbon-neutral shipping
service for small businesses in the US and Australia that has offset
19.5 billion miles of carbon to date, also a South Pole partner — created an
art
installation
in Seattle aimed at reminding consumers of the environmental costs of our
addiction to online retail and shipping. As co-founder James Chin Moody
explained in
2021:
“Every product sold online and shipped to a customer represents a vast web of
carbon-emitting activity. It’s so important that right now, our industry comes
together to acknowledge our growing footprint and that we work together on
long-term solutions. With the way things are going, failing to grow sustainably
carries too many risks for a business’ operations, its bottom line and the
planet.”
Add to the ‘vast web of carbon-emitting activity’ the rampant product waste
generated through the mail-order return process (5.8 billion pounds of retail
returns and excess
inventory
end up in US landfills each year), and the true cost of our ecommerce addiction
would likely suck the holiday spirit out of many an online shopper. But while
giants such as Amazon work to implement new
systems
that could put a significant dent in product waste, smaller players such as
ShippingEasy and Sendle are working to do their part on the emissions front.
The Greenest Way to Ship is now available in the ShippingEasy app; and the pilot
will run through the duration of peak holiday season (through January 12, 2023)
— though the company says it aims to make the service a permanent feature.
"Because this is our first implementation of the feature, we're focusing on peak season specifically; so, we can make the largest impact during our merchants' shortest, busiest window," Vaughn told Sustainable Brands®. "If merchants show continued interest and excitement about the tool, we would love to make this feature available long term with South Pole. Next steps will be evaluated at the end of the pilot."
Merchants that are already accessing ShippingEasy's discounted rates don’t need
to take any action to enroll in The Greenest Way to Ship, and new users can join
at any time. Merchants leveraging The Greenest Way to Ship also get access to
badges, logos and social assets to promote their sustainability efforts to
customers.
Published Nov 15, 2022 7am EST / 4am PST / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET
Sustainable Brands Staff
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