Calculate the footprint of your international shipments
Our operation pollutes like crazy
ShipGreener.com is the blog associated with First Global Xpress (FGX), a New York-based international shipping company. We began this blog in early 2008 because we wanted to join an honest discussion on the environmental effects of our business and what it means to be a responsible shipper. We recognize that shipping can be a dirty, polluting business; we are here to find ways to ship smarter and ship greener.
We firmly believe that FGX, as a corporate citizen, has a responsibility to work toward being a more sustainable and greener business. And we believe that we have a responsibility to help our clients and our fellow businesses improve their own sustainability and reduce their own environmental impact. To this end, we are undertaking a series of initiatives to greenify how we do business, and we are using this blog as an educational tool to help companies understand the environmental impact of their shipping operations, especially shipping by air. We believe that it is a paramount responsibility for companies to reduce the carbon footprint of their shipping operations by being smarter about how they ship.
FGX believes that it has that smarter, greener solution for shipping. It’s called shipping direct. Our company avoids the hubs and spokes of traditional large shippers like FedEx, UPS, and DHL. By shipping direct, we can cut 35% or more of the miles off of the route that a package takes with the other large shippers.
We encourage you to read about the environmental effects of shipping, how to calculate the carbon footprint of your shipping operations, and the ways that you can ship smarter and greener by shipping direct. We also post general observations about current topics in the environmental movement.
Please see the “Start Here” tag for more information.
“The Human Footprint” by National Geographic was pretty cool, but my video is better.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: FGX is in a year-long effort to make its business operations greener, ultimately reducing the negative impact of its business on the environment. This post is one in a series of blogs on these efforts.]
Taking another step toward being a greener company, FGX has now contracted with East Coast Limousine for use of hybrid vehicles for business-related travel in New York City.
According to Justin Brown, executive director of sales for FGX, the cost for using the hybrid service is the same as the standard car service.
According to Justin, “if this vehicle can get me from A to B more efficiently for the same amount of money, then this is a tremendous upside for me as a consumer.”
“At FGX, we want to be educated consumers and be responsible in our use of energy,” he says. “And when you choose FGX for your international shipping, you’ll know that you’re using a company that makes the right choices when it comes to shipping and the environment.”
FGX has chosen East Coast because it provides affordable, quality chauffeured transportation in hybrid vehicles to corporate and business travelers. The company services with its own fleet the New York metro area, as well as Connecticut, New Jersey, Long Island, and Westchester. It also services most major cities in the United States and many throughout the world via its quality certified affiliate network.
In addition to its standard fleet of vehicles, East Coast has now launched hybridlimousine, a planet friendly division that maintains its fleet’s style, high quality, and affordability standards. This service provides FGX with the opportunity to choose a car service that will not only supply a dependable luxury experience, but an environmentally responsible one as well. In an effort to think green, East Coast’s hybridlimousine division offers the option of late model, low-emission hybrid vehicles that do the following:
Hybrid cars utilize a small, fuel-efficient gas engine combined with an electric motor to propel the vehicle. The non-polluting electric motor is powered by batteries that recharge automatically during driving. Using hybrid automobiles for business travel will cut the contribution to pollution made by business chauffeured transportation by 30 percent or more.
According to the website care2.com, which is dedicated to providing information on green living, hybrid cars have the following benefits:
FGX is taking the responsible step of making its business operations cleaner and greener. Will you? If you would like to learn more about FGX’s choice to use hybrid vehicles or other aspects of its efforts to make its shipping solutions the greenest in the industry, please contact Justin at (212) 352-9390 or email him at jbrown@fgxusa.com.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: FGX is in a year-long effort to make its business operations greener, ultimately reducing the negative impact of its business on the environment. This post is one in a series of blogs on these efforts.]
Greening the FGX Water Cooler: Eliminating Emissions, Reducing Health Risks
by Claire Le Rigoleur
All around the world, water consumption is rapidly increasing. According to QSR, a food industry trade magazine, bottled water production in industrialized countries grows around 10 percent annually. Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing.
Here at FGX, we began to wonder whether bottled water from the office water cooler was any better than filtered New York City tap water. After some investigation, we found two compelling reasons for switching:
(1) To reduce traffic and reduce emissions: Even though our old water cooler retailer picks up, recycles, and reuses the bottled water cooler jugs, there are still emissions from exhaust each time a delivery truck stops by the office to drop off new water and to pick up the empties. With a filter system, we eliminate the frequent visits; now we just need to occasionally replace the filter.
(2) To reduce health risks from exposure to chemicals in plastics: More important, the scientific community and the mainstream media are alerting people to the potential dangers of certain toxins within plastics. In the case of polycarbonate plastic of the type used in office water coolers, an estrogen hormone called bisphenol A, or BPA, can be released as a result of exposure to heat, especially exposure to boiling water. (Could this be why some bottled water retailers advise customers to keep the bottles out of sunlight and away from heat?)
You can verify the plastic of your own water cooler bottles: polycarbonate plastic containers are marked with a “7″ and swirling arrows.
Since the water cooler bottles from our supplier are reused and recycled, BPA could be released during the bottled water company’s disinfection process prior to sending the bottles out to its customers.
Our New System: Sky Water
Sky Water is a unique company at the cutting edge of the water industry’s efforts to go green. As an active member of the ‘Go Green’ campaign, Sky Water, distributors for Pure Tech, is proud to be leading the charge for eliminating traditional bottled water cooler systems. This company created a filtration system enabling the drinking of clean tap water.
Installation
Setting up the new filteration system only took a few minutes. We just had to plug it in and connect it to the water supply. Five minutes later the water was ready for consumption.
The Results
Convenience: We expect this filtered water cooler to prove to be more convenient than the bottled water cooler system. Indeed, we used to have to remove the empty water bottle from the old cooler, clean off the machine’s rim, and then introduce the new bottle, always being careful not to knock over the water or spill any on the floor or on the wall.
Cost-effective: We expect the filtration system to be cost-effective, because we have eliminated the weekly deliveries. It is a great feeling to know that there will be one less delivery truck idling on the streets of New York, just to deliver us a cold drink of water.
Increased Productivity: Moreover, we’ll be more productive at the office, because we won’t be changing water bottles, paying regular recurring bills for water, and interacting with the delivery personnel for the water cooler company.
Overall, this new system allows us to be more focused on what we do best: providing greener shipping solutions for your company. In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be investigating more green initiatives and making more changes to the way we do business. Check the blog often to hear more about the green changes we’re making!
About the author and the other interns: During the summer of 2008, a team of six French students from INSEEC Business School began interning at First Global Xpress. The interns join us with the goal of improving their English, as well as learning marketing, sales, research, and logistical skills. Our interns will help chronicle the continued greening of our operation by guest-posting to the ShipGreener blog. Please join us in welcoming Jasna, Claire, Estelle, Nadia, Cynthia, and Wilson to the FGX team!
On June 11, the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce in New York recognized the world’s leading generator of wind energy, the Spanish utility Iberdrola, with its coveted Business Leader of the Year Award. In honor of the company’s billions in investment in green energy initiatives, the Spanish chamber pulled out all the stops to make its annual black-tie event its greenest gala ever. To do so, the chamber turned to First Global Xpress to ensure that its international shipping was the greenest on the market.
“FGX is pleased to have partnered with the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce in its efforts to take action to lessen the negative environmental impact of its shipping operations,” says Justin Brown, director of global sales for FGX.
“At FGX, we are dedicated to converting your international shipping into greener operations,” says Mr. Brown. “We hope to encourage companies in the international space to think about what they could be doing to have a positive impact on the environment.”
Shrinking Your Carbon Footprint
Through its unique business model, FGX is able to shrink the carbon footprint of its clients’ international shipments. The company can also work with clients’ internal mail rooms to reduce their own carbon footprint.
FGX believes that it is a greener shipper because it ships direct, bypassing the hub-and-spoke system typical of large international integrators such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL.
For a package sent from New York City to London, the standard practice is to ship from its point of origin in New York City to a hub, such as Memphis, Tenn., which is in the opposite direction from its destination in Europe. From there, it travels to either Brussels or Paris, hub locations for Europe, before being sent on to its final destination in London.
“The hub-and-spoke system is wasteful and drastically increases the mileage your international package travels,” says Mr. Brown. “FGX partners with more than ninety international airlines to be able to do something revolutionary—bypass the hub-and-spoke system. With FGX, your international packages ship direct to their final destination, without passing through out-of-the-way hubs on two continents.”
In the particular case of a shipment from New York City to London, the integrator’s shipment will travel 5,727 miles, while the First Global Xpress package will travel just 3,473 miles.
Beyond the waste from extra mileage, consider the following:
Once these elements are included, FGX believes that integrators such as FedEx probably use about twice as much energy to get a package to its final destination as FGX.
Regarding carbon emissions, a 3-lb package that travels 5,727 miles on two flights is responsible for the release of 28.4 lbs of CO2 or more into the upper atmosphere. The same shipment that is shipped direct is responsible for the release of 17.2 lbs of CO2. This equation does not take into consideration the integrator’s energy usage at the many hubs, nor the fuel burn ratio for takeoff versus cruising altitude (for example, FedEx uses three flights when delivering to London).
Multiplying this out over a year, if a company ships one thousand 3-lb packages annually through a hub-and-spoke integrator like FedEx, a total of 28,400 lbs of CO2 would be released into the atmosphere.
By shipping direct, the same scenario would lead to 17,200 lbs of CO2 emissions, a difference of 11,200 lbs.
“Companies can immediately slash their carbon footprint simply by choosing a shipper that ships direct,” says Mr. Brown. “It’s that easy.”
FGX’s figures on carbon emissions have been supplied by www.ShipGreen.net, an online carbon calculator. This firm, which launched in September 2007, allows retailers to tie its carbon calculator into their websites to help consumers understand the environmental consequences of their shipping choices. The carbon calculator was developed in conjunction with the Arpad Horvath, PhD and Cristiano Facanha, PhD, both from the University of California, Berkeley, department of civil and environmental engineering.
Greenifying Its Operations
FGX has taken a pledge to greenify its operations, and the company is documenting its progress through its blogsite, ShipGreener.com. FGX is aiming to reduce its carbon footprint by 75 percent by the end of 2008.
The company is changing everything about how its operation conducts itself to what kind of impact the firm’s operations are having on the environment. This will have an effect not only on the company’s carbon footprint, but also on each of its clients’.
For any company, shipping inherently accounts for a large percentage of its carbon footprint. By FGX making itself greener, the firm’s clients can ultimately reduce their carbon footprints as well.
“The business has a lot of moving parts,” says Mr. Brown, “and where there is something moving or being produced, there is room to make it more efficient.”
Some examples of this are in the packaging being used, the vans the couriers are driving, and the means by which goods are transported.
“To the extent that we pollute less,” says Mr. Brown, “we’ll be able to bring that efficiency to our clients.”
FGX plans to reduce its carbon footprint and make its operations more environmentally friendly through the following:
FGX will detail the ups and downs of researching and implementing these changes through its blogsite, www.shipgreener.com. The blog will also offer interviews and will report on environmental happenings in New York City as well.
More than eight million people live in New York City — 26,000 New Yorkers per square mile. The buildings are tall — many more than 70 stories — and the streets are busy 24/7. But did you know that the city bustles below ground, too?
More than 600,000 manholes give workers access to the world beneath the streets.
City water starts out in country streams upstate that flow into 19 reservoirs. The water is then run through more than 6,000 miles of water pipes to reach homes and businesses in NYC. Some pipes date to the 1800s, and more than 600 burst each year.
32 million miles of color-coded TV, telephone, and computer cable create the city’s huge communications network. Some telecom lines have been run through old water pipes.
New York has the largest network of electrical lines in the world — 90,000 miles snake under the city to distribute electricity to every light bulb at three million locations.
Seven thousand miles of natural gas mains deliver the resource that comes all the way from Nova Scotia, Canada, allowing New Yorkers to cook, dry their clothes, and heat their homes.
New York heats and cools 100,000 buildings using steam. 100 miles of steam pipes crisscross underground, delivering 30 billion pounds of steam every year. To make steam, water must be superheated to 1,000 degrees.
The subways run from 30 to 100 feet below ground. There are 277 underground stations.
More than one billion people ride the subway each year.
Twenty-six subway lines run on 450 miles of underground track.
Based on some of the reading I have done on NYC’s infrastructure, we are due for some major overhauls in the next twenty years.
This should bring huge energy savings (if done correctly) to the aging underground.
For the full story on the photo above check out THIS.
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BP
BP 72.18, +3.20, +4.6%) (UK:BP: news, chart, profile) said its first-quarter earnings rose to $7.62 billion from $4.66 billion. Adjusting for the impact of energy-price changes on unsold inventory and other charges, BP would have earned $6.49 billion, trumping analyst estimates by over $1 billion.
RDS.A 80.19, +3.47, +4.5%) (UK:RDS.A: news, chart, profile) net profit rose to $9.08 billion from $7.28 billion. Adjusted for the impact of energy-price changes on unsold inventory and $77 million in charges, Shell said it would have earned $7.7 billion, up 5% from a year earlier and above the $6.77 billion that analysts had forecast.
For both companies, production growth stalled. It was essentially unchanged for BP at 3.91 million barrels of oil equivalent a day, while Shell saw only a 1% rise to 3.44 million barrels. But BP sold its oil and gas for 52% more than it did in the year-earlier period, as Shell received 66% more. That led BP’s exploration-and-production arm to earn $10.1 billion, up 60%, and Shell’s E&P arm to earn $5.14 billion, up 52%.
“The consensus thrashing first-quarter results, clearly aided by high oil and gas prices, have nevertheless shown that (BP’s) turnaround is well advanced,” said Richard Griffith, an analyst at Evolution Securities. Griffith was similarly effusive about Shell, calling their results “stellar.” Analysts said BP’s refining performance wasn’t as bad as forecast, and Shell’s gas sales in Europe were helped by a cold winter. Both BP and Shell have put in a strong month’s performance on the back of rising oil prices that traded near $120 a barrel. Shell CFO Peter Voser repeated the company’s claim that oil prices aren’t justified by fundamentals but said oil and gas prices will rise from here.
Jeff Rubin of CIBC World Markets was laughed at three years ago when he predicted $100 per barrel oil, and his current prediction is that it will climb to $225 in four years. (The Houston Chronicle quotes him as saying gas will cost $10/gallon.) If these sorts of predictions prove to be at all accurate, it would behoove every major metropolitan area in the country to figure out how to make it as easy as possible for the workforce to commute sans gas.
Have you ever ridden your bike to work? With gas at $10/gallon, would you?
Read full Announcement HERE
