Digital purchasing reduces carbon impact
Every time we use a car, charge a cell phone, dine, or operate a washing machine, we leave a carbon footprint, or a trail of gases that warm the globe.
Every time we use a car, charge a cell phone, dine, or operate a washing machine, we leave a carbon footprint, or a trail of gases that warm the globe. All human activity produce GHG. Daily acts add to the climate issue.
Buying creates a carbon footprint from product origin to transport. Companies establish initiatives to lower the CO2 impact of each transaction and promote online purchases and payments, which have a smaller footprint. How to interpret? Your shop transfers and electricity use. Your footprint determines everything.
Nelson Urra, a bioscience consultant and natural resources engineer, explains: "All the things we buy have defined emission factors. If I buy a piece of apparel, its carbon footprint, or emission factor, is allocated to me in a calculator. So is the register made, and there is a difference between buying an item in person and buying it digitally with delivery, because the latter saves on transportation and store operating. The proportion varies by item, but it's between 20% and 30% "digital buy"
In 2020, the epidemic sparked a surge in digital purchasing and environmental awareness. 60 percent of Spaniards believe it's necessary to limit one's carbon footprint to fight climate change, according to a Mastercard poll.
Despite expanding, commerce challenges an environmentally conscientious customer. Mastercard has various initiatives to help you offset your carbon footprint. Together with the Swedish fintech Doconomy, it established a carbon footprint calculator, a tool via which banks may explain to customers their carbon footprint and provide them the option to offset it. DO, a free mobile banking service, helps customers to recognise, understand, and reduce their CO2 footprint through offsetting.
Mastercard and Doconomy's DO will help users make more sustainable daily consumption choices. DO promotes UN-certified carbon offsetting.
Every time a consumer makes a purchase, the calculator will tell them their carbon footprint and how many trees they should plant to offset it. They will also receive advice on how to live more sustainably and the option of contributing to restoration projects, such as the Priceless Planet Coalition (Mastercard's global programme that seeks to bring together merchants, banks, cities, and consumers to make valuable investments in environmental conservation), through donations or through the loyalty rewards programmes of its banks. These institutions will integrate the calculator into their mobile apps using Mastercard Developers' APIs.
Committed societies
"Many initiatives of our daily life, such as recycling or reforestation in Santiago's Metropolitan Park, are born from Mastercard employees," explains Patricia Merino, Director of Marketing and Communications of Mastercard Cono Sur. "It's a firm and consistent commitment to make the planet a better place to live." The Priceless Planet Coalition has pledged to plant 100 million trees in the world's key lungs to trap CO2 and alleviate climate change.
She said consumers are pushing their favourite firms to be eco-friendly "Pandemic heightened environmental awareness. Mastercard created a research in 2021 with data from Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia that illustrates people's increased environmental consciousness. 83% in Colombia, 72% in Mexico, and 75% in Brazil say minimising their carbon footprint is more essential now. They are also more mindful of how their behaviours influence the environment (93 percent in Colombia, and 85 percent in Mexico and Brazil). Since the Covid-19″ epidemic, customers are more aware of their own behaviours and believe corporations should be more sustainable and ecologically friendly.
Mathias Wilström, CEO of Doconomy, stresses the need of customer transparency. Mastercard has changed the finance industry's position in the climate problem by promoting individual awareness and encouraging collective action.
Personal carbon footprinting is a major task, says Patricia Merino. "Changes are underway. Many consumers are examining the carbon footprint of what they buy or use, thinking it a deciding element in their choices." I n this context, knowledge becomes especially crucial so that people can make decisions that affect their carbon footprint emissions.