DHL Unveils Guilt-Free Shipping

Shipping has been trying to go green now for several years. UPS has efficient delivery vehicles, bicycles are being used to deliver all kinds of goods, FedEX is using diesel hybrid electric vans and there are now even electric delivery vans on the road. But as with anything claiming to be green, we have to take the claims with a grain of salt. Shipping is still a carbon-intensive activity. In order to address some of those emissions, DHL has unveiled a program called Gogreen Express "to give environmentally conscious shippers the ability to choose carbon-neutral package delivery. Using Gogreen Express is as simple as paying an additional three percent fee on top of the cost of the overall bill. DHL then invests the money into green projects like vehicle technology, solar panels and reforestation."

Of course, a 3% fee isn't going to be enough to invest in solar projects, so most likely the money will end up in forest offsets, which can have questionable carbon benefits. Also, the service is currently only available in the Asia Pacific region, meaning that American consumers will have to use a service such as Carbonfund.org's Carbonfree shipping to assuage their guilt. (Or they could simply consume less.) After all, how many plastic backscratchers made in China does one need?

Via: ::Autobloggreen and ::Times of India