METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR AN INTERNET BASED SHOPPING CART TO CALCULATE THE CARBON DIOXIDE GENERATED BY SHIPPING PRODUCTS AND CHARGE FOR CARBON OFFSETS TO MITIGATE THE GENERATED CARBON DIOXIDE
First Claim
1. A method to offset carbon emissions generated by shipping at least one product purchased via interaction with a web enabled network system comprising:
- providing said web enabled network system;
providing at least one customer interacting with said web enabled network system;
providing at least one merchant website operated by at least one merchant on said web enabled network system, said merchant website having a shopping cart subsystem that provides a purchasing interface for said at least one customer to purchase said at least one product and to define shipping instructions to ship said at least one product;
providing a central computer system that has computer readable storage media for storing software programs and other data utilized during operation of said software programs;
running an application server program on said central computer system;
providing a carbon offset subsystem by said application server program to said shopping cart subsystem of said at least one merchant website;
receiving by said carbon offset subsystem shipping information about said at least one product being purchased by said at least one customer from said shopping cart subsystem of said merchant website, said shipping information being at least a weight of said at least one product, distance information that defines a distance that said at least one product is shipped, and a transportation method for shipping of said at least one product;
calculating by said carbon offset subsystem an estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product such that said calculation of said estimated amount of carbon emissions is based on said weight of said at least one product, said distance information that defines said distance that said at least one product is shipped, and said transportation method for shipping said at least one product of said shipping information;
calculating by said carbon offset subsystem an estimated cost to offset said calculated estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product;
delivering said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product from said carbon offset subsystem to said shopping cart subsystem such that said shopping cart subsystem includes said estimated cost to offset said estimated carbon emissions in a total cost to purchase and ship said at least one product;
receiving at least a portion of said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product from said at least one merchant after said at least one product has been purchased by said at least one customer; and
delivering at least a sub-portion of said portion of said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product to an entity implementing a carbon offsetting application.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a method and system for incorporating a carbon offset calculation into a shopping cart subsystem of a merchant website that calculates an estimated cost to offset a calculated estimate of the carbon emissions generated from shipping purchased products in order to allow the incorporation of the estimated carbon offset cost into the cost for the purchased products and allocate at least a portion of the payment of the estimated carbon offset cost to an entity building, managing, or operating a carbon offsetting application. Some embodiments may permit the customer purchasing the products to optionally select to incorporate the carbon offset costs in the costs for the purchased products. The estimate of carbon emissions generated calculation is based on specific information for the purchased products and the selected shipping methods for shipping the purchased products such as the shipping weight of the purchased products, a distance the purchased products are being shipped, and a designation of the shipping or transportation method. Additional embodiments may include dimensional weights of the purchased products, additional factors to account for the specific aspects of the selected transportation method for shipping the purchased products, and permitting the customer to select a specific carbon offsetting application to fund.
49 Citations
37 Claims
-
1. A method to offset carbon emissions generated by shipping at least one product purchased via interaction with a web enabled network system comprising:
-
providing said web enabled network system; providing at least one customer interacting with said web enabled network system; providing at least one merchant website operated by at least one merchant on said web enabled network system, said merchant website having a shopping cart subsystem that provides a purchasing interface for said at least one customer to purchase said at least one product and to define shipping instructions to ship said at least one product; providing a central computer system that has computer readable storage media for storing software programs and other data utilized during operation of said software programs; running an application server program on said central computer system; providing a carbon offset subsystem by said application server program to said shopping cart subsystem of said at least one merchant website; receiving by said carbon offset subsystem shipping information about said at least one product being purchased by said at least one customer from said shopping cart subsystem of said merchant website, said shipping information being at least a weight of said at least one product, distance information that defines a distance that said at least one product is shipped, and a transportation method for shipping of said at least one product; calculating by said carbon offset subsystem an estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product such that said calculation of said estimated amount of carbon emissions is based on said weight of said at least one product, said distance information that defines said distance that said at least one product is shipped, and said transportation method for shipping said at least one product of said shipping information; calculating by said carbon offset subsystem an estimated cost to offset said calculated estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product; delivering said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product from said carbon offset subsystem to said shopping cart subsystem such that said shopping cart subsystem includes said estimated cost to offset said estimated carbon emissions in a total cost to purchase and ship said at least one product; receiving at least a portion of said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product from said at least one merchant after said at least one product has been purchased by said at least one customer; and delivering at least a sub-portion of said portion of said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product to an entity implementing a carbon offsetting application. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A shipping emissions offset system to offset carbon emissions generated by shipping at least one product purchased via interaction with a web enabled network system comprising:
-
said web enabled network system; at least one customer interacting with said web enabled network system; at least one merchant website operated by at least one merchant on said web enabled network system, said merchant website having a shopping cart subsystem that provides a purchasing interface for said at least one customer to purchase said at least one product and to define shipping instructions to ship said at least one product; a central computer system that has computer readable storage media for storing software programs and other data utilized during operation of said software programs; an application server program running on said central computer system; a carbon offset subsystem provided by said application server program to said shopping cart subsystem of said at least one merchant website; a shipping information receiving subsystem of said carbon offset subsystem that receives shipping information about said at least one product being purchased by said at least one customer from said shopping cart subsystem of said merchant website, said shipping information being at least a weight of said at least one product, distance information that defines a distance that said at least one product is shipped, and a transportation method for shipping of said at least one product; an estimated carbon emissions calculation subsystem of said carbon offset subsystem that calculates an estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product such that said calculation of said estimated amount of carbon emissions is based on said weight of said at least one product, said distance information that defines said distance that said at least one product is shipped, and said transportation method for shipping said at least one product of said shipping information; an estimated carbon offset cost subsystem of said carbon offset subsystem that calculates an estimated cost to offset said calculated estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product; a cost delivery subsystem of said carbon offset subsystem that delivers said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product from said carbon offset subsystem to said shopping cart subsystem such that said shopping cart subsystem includes said estimated cost to offset said estimated carbon emissions in a total cost to purchase and ship said at least one product; and a payment subsystem that receives at least a portion of said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product from said at least one merchant after said at least one product has been purchased by said at least one customer and delivers at least a sub-portion of said portion of said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product to an entity implementing a carbon offsetting application. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
-
-
37. A system to offset carbon emissions generated by shipping at least one product purchased via interaction with a web enabled network system comprising:
-
means for providing said web enabled network system; means for providing at least one customer interacting with said web enabled network system; means for providing at least one merchant website operated by at least one merchant on said web enabled network system, said merchant website having a shopping cart subsystem that provides a purchasing interface for said at least one customer to purchase said at least one product and to define shipping instructions to ship said at least one product; means for providing a central computer system that has computer readable storage media for storing software programs and other data utilized during operation of said software programs; means for running an application server program on said central computer system; means for providing a carbon offset subsystem to said shopping cart subsystem of said at least one merchant website; means for receiving by said carbon offset subsystem shipping information about said at least one product being purchased by said at least one customer from said shopping cart subsystem of said merchant website, said shipping information being at least a weight of said at least one product, distance information that defines a distance that said at least one product is shipped, and a transportation method for shipping of said at least one product; means for calculating by said carbon offset subsystem an estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product such that said calculation of said estimated amount of carbon emissions is based on said weight of said at least one product, said distance information that defines said distance that said at least one product is shipped, and said transportation method for shipping said at least one product of said shipping information; means for calculating by said carbon offset subsystem an estimated cost to offset said calculated estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product; means for delivering said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product from said carbon offset subsystem to said shopping cart subsystem such that said shopping cart subsystem includes said estimated cost to offset said estimated carbon emissions in a total cost to purchase and ship said at least one product; means for receiving at least a portion of said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product; and means for delivering at least a sub-portion of said portion of said estimated cost to offset said estimated amount of carbon emissions generated from shipping said at least one product to an entity implementing a carbon offsetting application.
-
Specification