Delta’s offering it. The show “24″ is doing it. Even the Vatican is going down that path. Carbon neutrality; it’s all the rage. And guess who’s joining the party now? United Parcel Service.
For a small fee, you’ll be able to ship something with UPS and do so in a carbon neutral fashion. According to this CSRwire release, the shipping company became the “first small package carrier” to offer this option to its customers.
The service will cost a nickel for UPS Ground and two dimes for UPS Next Day Air, 2nd Day Air and 3 Day Select. In addition, to inspire customers to request this service, UPS is matching carbon offset purchases to the tune of up to $1 million through 2010.
For UPS, it was a natural fit, according to Bob Stoffel, senior VP engineering, strategy, supply chain and sustainability, as quoted in the release: “These services complement UPS’s own sustainability efforts while offering customers a new option to address the environmental challenges of their supply chains.”
Initially, this option will be available to about a million customers in the United States who ship via the Internet with a UPS account number. In 2010, the company plans to expand the program.
In addition, UPS announced another service for its high-volume customers. The company will provide a carbon analysis service on a contract basis, to let the customer know their carbon impact, which will help the shipper figure out how many offsets they need to buy.
You can learn more about the UPS carbon neutral program here.
Photo courtesy of Neubie, via Flickr