Local startup Curbon is looking to address carbon emissions with the launch of country’s first plugin created to help fight climate change by making online shopping carbon neutral.
The plugin works at the checkout phase of the online shopping journey, with Curbon noting that customers have the opportunity to take direct, meaningful climate action with every purchase.
“Using data from the world’s leading climate science institutions, the startup’s flagship product estimates the emissions of customers’ carts at checkout and empowers shoppers to neutralise the carbon footprint of their purchases on e-commerce stores in real-time,” it explained in a press release sent to Hypertext.
“Dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of the entire e-commerce value chain, Curbon’s API uses the process of carbon offsetting to reduce, and ultimately neutralise, the carbon equivalent emissions of users’ online purchases,” it adds.
Curbon also notes that it has partnered with several of the larger ecommerce platform providers, including Shopify, WooCommerce, Magneto and others, to integrate the functionality of its plugin at the checkout phase.
The plugin then estimates each online order’s carbon footprint by calculating the emissions involved in the sales process, from retailer to end customer, and the entire production process of goods and services as well.
“Curbon makes shopping more sustainable. As more people consider the impact of their choices on the environment and demand more transparent and sustainable business practices from the brands they support, Curbon helps make a tangible financial contribution to climate projects possible for the first time in South Africa,” notes co-founder and director Mark Jones (pictured above).
“The relative importance of sustainability during the purchase process is becoming more apparent. Consumers want to do the right thing, and support businesses who share their concern for the environment,” adds fellow Curbon co-founder and director Michael Pollock.
With the South African ecommerce space doubling in terms of revenue on the back of the pandemic, there is indeed scope for a solution like this to assist customers that are interested in lessening their environmental impact.
