Patent ID: 8117079

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of offsetting an environmental impact of an electronic transaction for a user, comprising: under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, receiving a request from the user to obtain at least one item as part of an electronic transaction; determining, by the one or more computer systems, item-specific environmental impact information for each item, the item-specific environmental impact information being determined at least in part using at least one of a type of material or a volume of the item; determining, by the one or more computer systems, packaging-specific environmental impact information for the electronic transaction, the packaging-specific environmental impact information being determined at least in part using an amount or a type of packaging for the at least one item; determining, by the one or more computer systems, shipping-specific environmental impact information for the electronic transaction, the shipping-specific environmental impact information being determined at least in part using a number of deliveries or an overall distance of delivery for the at least one item; and allocating, by the one or more computer systems, a number of environmental credits to offset the environmental impact of the electronic transaction based at least in part upon the item-specific, packaging-specific, and shipping-specific environmental impact information, wherein the user is able to obtain an electronic transaction that has substantially zero net environmental impact for at least the determined types of environmental impact information.