We were featured in the February issue of Supply Chain Digital.  Read it here.

This week a new website called shippingefficiency.org was launched by the Carbon War Room, co-founded by Sir Richard Branson.  The site offers vessel specific emissions information across a range of different carriers.  This is a huge step toward enabling companies to evaluate the methods they use to move products via ocean.  We are embracing this information and are using it to improve the accuracy of our ocean emissions accounting platform.

The website provides a long list of ocean going vessels and rates them for efficiency between levels A through G.  Each level has a unique emissions factor that can be used to measure the emissions for that vessel.

We’ve had an exciting last few months as we’ve started the beta testing of our freight dashboard.  We’ve been busily working away to introduce an automated, enterprise-wide transportation emissions platform for medium and large businesses.  Sustainable Business Oregon recently published an article about us that provides a nice update.  There will be more to come soon.

GreenShipping Targets Carbon Reduction

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.

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.

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

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.

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.