Green Shipping Blog

UPS Announces Smart Pickup option

KenWhiteman — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:23:45 +0000

UPS has just announced a new service for small and medium sized businesses that they’re calling “Smart Pickup”. The service uses UPS’s World Ship Software to automatically notify UPS when a new shipping label has been created. If no labels have been created on a given day at a business who has signed up for Smart Pickup, UPS does not send a daily pickup driver to the business location on that day. This is a great move on their part, as normally businesses are forced to use daily pickup and have the driver arrive even when a package is not being shipped that day. The service will eliminate unnecessary mileage and reduce fuel consumption. The service costs a flat $10 per week and if our understanding is correct, this is in lieu of the normal daily pickup rate of $10-$20 per week depending on your shipping level.

If you’re a UPS shipper and don’t ship packages every day, this is a great option for you. Find out more at UPS.com. It’s great to see carriers embracing technology to reduce unnecessary emissions.

Shipping Emissions Fast Fact: Ocean Shipping

casey — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:31:34 +0000

We all know that most of the goods we sell and buy will travel by ship at some point. Unfortunately it is pretty clear that shipping across the ocean is one of the most detrimental ways we can move our products. Here are some fast facts about Ocean Shipping from Earth Justice:

Emissions and Bunker Fuel

Ships generate 15 to 30 percent of the world’s smog-forming emissions.
Bunker fuel burned by ships is 1,000 times dirtier than highway diesel used by trucks and buses.
A single ship coming into harbor produces the smog-forming emissions of 350,000 new cars.
Ship engines are far dirtier than on-road engines due to lack of regulation.
The International Maritime Organization has lagged far behind in revising outdated regulations for ship emissions.

And this doesn’t even mention the trash, grey water and sewage that are being dumped over board. If you are shipping goods across the ocean, consider Green Shipping’s freight services and help to offset your part of this industry’s emissions.

GreenShipping Freight Services

casey — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 01:44:06 +0000

GreenShipping offers footprinting and offsetting for freight!

The new freight emissions calculator offers accurate carbon footprinting of ocean, rail, air, truck and multi-modal shipments. It works for both international and domestic shipments with support in over 50 countries. The calculator supports shipment dimensions, multiple waypoints, and type of vehicle/vessel for each leg. The calculator provides support for individual shipments, batches, and for full automation when integrated with a company’s shipment data systems. A basic version of the calculator will soon be available to anyone with a GreenShipping business account, to provide the ability to analyze the footprint of your freight shipments.

If you would like more information on our freight calculation service, please contact Jason Hartmann (jason@greenshipping.com). Look for more exciting announcements to come!

Shipping Emissions Fast Fact

casey — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 23:33:16 +0000

The figures from the oil giant BP, which owns 50 tankers, and researchers at the Institute for Physics and Atmosphere in Wessling, Germany reveal that annual emissions from shipping range between 600 and 800m tonnes of carbon dioxide, or up to 5% of the global total. This is nearly double Britain’s total emissions and more than all African countries combined.

The Guardian, UK

Featured on Mother Nature Network and Green Hands USA

casey — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:35:55 +0000

Earlier this holiday season, these two great green minded publication, Mother Nature Network and Green Hands USA, featured Green Shipping in their journals. Take a look and while your there feel free to write a comment on these posts thanking them for their support!

Mother Nature Network: MNN is a one stop shop for anyone looking to green their life. From the simple tasks of recycling to the more complex undertakings of remodeling your home the green way, MNN is a great resource for helping you help mother nature.

Green Hands USA: “Local Action, Global Reaction” Green Hands USA is a volunteer network and green resource center for anyone who would like to lend a helping hand in a green project.

Green Holidays

casey — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:59:47 +0000

‘Twas the night before the holidays
and all through the house
packages were piled ready to send to cousin Klaus.

The contents inside
were wrapped with care,
in hopes that they would bring smiles
to relatives in O’Claire.

With glaciers melting
and the thermometer in the red,
The idea of a Green holiday was in everyone’s head;

As mamma wrapped the last teddy,
I with a voice so steady
called FedEx and to say “the pickup was ready.”

When out of thin air mamma began to banter,
“But wait, shipping is 10% of that
climate change matter!”

I stopped with alarm
and headed for the computer in a dash;
A quick Google search and I found
GreenShipping in a flash.

And what to my wondering eyes should appear
but a way to offset the emissions and a map to watch my packages draw near.

Creating an account was easy and quick,
then all I needed to do was enter my tracking numbers and click.

The packages were followed
while on trucks and on planes,
Once delivered we could see their
carbon footprint in frame.

“How easy, how accurate!”
our hearts were filled with mirth
As we offset our Carbon and did something good for the earth.

With our work done, we cheered with excite,
“GreenShipping for all and for all a Good Night”

A “Green Holiday” is the goal of many people who will ship packages to loved ones this year. So along with the socks made from bamboo, recycling a cardboard box, and using newspaper instead of wrapping paper, remember that shipping can also be a great way to Green your holiday.

gDiapers Shipments Now Environmentally Friendly

casey — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:51:53 +0000

Portland, OR

The most environmentally safe diaper today, gDiapers (www.gDiapers.com), has partnered with GreenShipping to offset the carbon generated during shipping their its loyal customers. This is just another way that gDiapers is helping to save the planet!

“gDiapers is proud to be partnering with Green Shipping. As the leaders in carbon offsetting shipments, GreenShipping is helping gDiapers achieve its goal of becoming a carbon neutral business,” says Jason Graham-Nye, co-founder of gDiapers.

To accomplish carbon-neutrality for gDiapers, GreenShipping’s automated service calculates the carbon footprint of each shipment by examining the weight, traveled distance and mode of transportation. GreenShipping then purchases on behalf of gDiapers an equal amount of offsets from the Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF). BEF was named by the EPA as a 2009 Green Power Supplier of the Year and funds development of wind energy projects within the United States.

“We have great respect for gDiapers and their renown as the first consumer package good to receive the prestigious “Cradle 2 Cradle” certification. gDiapers makes many shipments to a customer over the life of their relationship so the manner in which goods are shipped to the customer gains increasing importance. We are proud to have Green Shipping selected to help minimize the environmental impact of those shipments,” says Bill Irving of Green Shipping.

About gDiapers

gDiapers provides parents with a diapering solution that is good for babies, parents and the planet. This 100% biodegradable diaper system is a plastic free hybrid diaper between cloth and disposable and has no elemental chlorine or perfumes. gDiapers can be disposed by flushing, composting or tossing. Made of a cute and comfortable washable outer pant with a snap in ultra-absorbent inner liner, gDiapers little gPants come in many fashionable styles and fun colors. gDiapers also offers a washable, reusable cloth insert which requires no folding as it fits perfectly into little gPants.

Founders Jason and Kimberley Graham-Nye are committed to developing products that are gentle to babies and safe for the environment. gDiapers is Cradle-to-Cradle gold certified (www.mbdc.com), which means that everything that goes into making a flushable refill is reabsorbed by the planet in a natural or helpful way. For more information, visit www.gdiapers.com.

UPS: Also a Green Shipper

casey — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:08:51 +0000

On October 8, 2009 UPS announced that they are launching a program that allows customers an option to purchase a carbon offset any time they ship a package. UPS customers pay a flat fee of $0.05 cents for ground shipments and $0.20 cents for air shipments. Certified offsets are purchased which support of variety of different programs including waste water treatment, landfill gas destruction and wetland restoration.

As a company dedicated to creating carbon neutral shipments, Green Shipping (www.greenshipping.com) is glad to see that other organizations are beginning to consider their shipment emissions and offer ways to offset them. “What is good for the environment is also good business.” Reducing the CO2 emitted by packages will help in the fight against climate change. Green Shipping offers a comprehensive carbon neutral shipping solution and supports shipments from UPS, FedEx, USPS as well as freight carriers. Green Shipping uses the weight, mode of transportation, and routing information for each and every shipment in order to provide the most accurate carbon footprint calculation available.
With Green Shipping, participating businesses can use their environmental commitment as a competitive advantage. Certified Green Shippers can display the Green Shipping logo on their website and in communication to their customers. With the Green Shipping iTrack™ package tracking tool, businesses can quickly and easily enable package tracking on their website and provide customers with a one stop solution for information on their orders. Green Shipping offsets the environmental impacts of customer shipments with purchases from Bonneville Environment Foundation who was award the EPA 2009 Green Energy Supplier of the Year award and is leading the way to a cleaner environment.
For more info on Green Shipping’s carbon neutral shipping solution, check out our short video
For more info on UPS carbon neutral shipping click here

Our Partner, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, wins Green Power Leadership Awards!

casey — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:49:40 +0000

PORTLAND, Ore. – September 15, 2009 The Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF), an entrepreneurial supplier of green power solutions, announced today that it has won two Green Power Leadership Awards- an awards program jointly sponsored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the Center for Resource Solutions (CRS). BEF has been recognized as the Best Green Power Supplier of the Year and its Solar 4R Schools program won Best Green Power Education Outreach Program in the Market Development Category . Award winners were announced during the Renewable Energy Markets Conference being held in Atlanta, GA this week.

Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) was founded in Portland, Oregon in 1998. BEF is a national, nonprofit organization and has played a major role in the development of the carbon offset market. In 2000, BEF helped to create the voluntary market for carbon offsets by closing the first retail REC trade deal with the Environmental Protection Agency. They also launched the first online carbon calculator in 2001. In 2008, BEF Carbon Offsets became Green-e® Climate certified.

The partnership between Greenshipping.com and BEF Carbon Offsets, empowers organizations and individuals to dedicate funds to the development of renewable energy sources like solar power and wind farms, while at the same time making their package shipments carbon neutral. We are glad to have BEF as our partner and know that with their help, Greenshipping.com and our customers will reduce climate change.

“What if retailers could offer green shipping choices?”

casey — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:56:31 +0000

The Fast Company article by James Hofflin hits the nail right on the head. Companies, particularly retailers, are beginning to actively engage in greening up. From conservation, to recycling, reducing and reusing, many retailers are thinking about their footprint and acting to reduce it. But… most of these green activities are taking place inside the store, office or in manufacturing. This leaves out a huge part of retailers Co2 emissions.

Transportation and shipping throughout the supply chain, from the supplier, to the manufacturer, to the retailer and the customer is most likely the largest carbon emitter of a company’s operations. So, why haven’t retailers thought about this? The most likely answer is that up till now, greening up your transportation and shipping meant leaning up your operations, investing in new trucks and strategiizing different routes. But now with Greenshipping.com, this daunting task is a bit more simple.

We agree that companies have to consider the entirety of their transportation and logistics to come up with the greenest solution. For example, Investing in renewable energy is one of the best ways to offset your transportation and shipping emissions. Greenshipping.com is happy have this opportunity to help businesses go green.