Description

Effectively, by including the offsetting option, customers can choose to negate the carbon dioxide that goes into the atmosphere from the process of shipping their order. At the checkout, customers will see an option to offset the shipment. By selecting this box, the amount of carbon is automatically calculated and the offset fee is added to their shipping cost – usually well under a $1.00.

The unique CO2counter technology allows the offset certificate to be automatically generated as a PDF and emailed to the customer if required. The fee is used to invest in projects that prevent or remove greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.

The CO2counter makes it simple for environmentally aware merchants to offer a tangible environmental benefit within the cart for their customers. This is being used worldwide to align with the merchants own environmental polices and to satisfy the ‘Green Shoppers’ requirement to buy from sustainably responsible retailers.

The Gaia Partnership have arrangements in place with Climate Friendly to purchase offsets in the Tasmanian Native Forest Protection Project. For details of the offsets please read more here.

Configuration

Configuration can be found in your WordPress admin panel under ‘Settings > Carbon Offset’.

Origin Details:

Carbon offset calculation is based on the distance from origin to destination address and the total weight of the transported goods. Destination address is you customers ship-to address but origin address must be pre-configured in order for the carbon offset calculation to be correct. Fill in your shop address details and save your configuration. Check Latitude and Longitude are correct. If you see zero in place of Latitude or Longitude, check your address is entered correctly.

Other Options:

Enabled:
Actives / De-activates the entire extension

Environment:
Production – The extension is live; carbon offset amount is calculated in real-time and is true, all successful transactions are deducted from your account. Production mode requires valid API Key & Hash.
Sandbox – The extension is in test mode; carbon offset amount is randomised, no sales are recorded in test mode.

In order to offer your customers offsetting option, you need to register with The Gaia Partnership and establish an account. Fill all the required details on the Sign Up form and hit ‘Sign Up’ button. An email will be sent to your nominated email address with all the necessary information.

How to obtain a credit balance: To use the Carbon Offset facility in a production or live environment, you will need to first establish a credit balance within the CO2counter system. For detail of the various payment options, please contact chris@gaiapartnership.com

Any offset cost will be debited against your CO2counter account balance. We will contact you when your credit balance becomes low so you can top it up.