"PURE is delighted that froggybank is encouraging customers to donate cash-back to combat climate change, just buying online will help minimise transport emissions".

Phil Wolski, Head of Fund Raising. PURE The Clean Planet Trust.

Our aim is to eliminate 1 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2012 using carbon offsetting - just by consumers doing their usual shopping through our website. This will not cost our shoppers anything extra.

We produce carbon emissions during our everyday life. This contributes to climate change and harms the environment. Offsetting is a way of compensating for this by supporting emission reduction projects which will eliminate the same amount of carbon.

There is more information at the BBC and Wikipedia.

Offsetting carbon is not a replacement to reducing our emissions, but it reduces the impact of the harm caused to our planet by us.

"Carbon offsetting is not a cure for climate change but it can help raise awareness and reduce the impact of our actions. The most appropriate action to take is to reduce emissions. Offsetting is a useful element of what we can all do to address climate change for several reasons" - Defra

"Carbon offset delivers where it matters" - BBC

It comes from the marketing budget of the retailers. Online retailers spend millions of pounds a year on commissions to intermediaries for introducing sales and customers. About £186 millions were paid out in 2007 (growth rate of 40%) by retailers. We plan to channel some of this money into this campaign, with the help of our shoppers.

Our members login to our website and use our links to do their shopping. We pay 100% of the commission we get from the retailer back to the customer. They can then choose how much they want to receive as cashback or can ask froggybank to donate all or part of this to good causes.

For each member who joins our website as a supporter of this campaign, froggybank will donate £2.50 towards carbon offsetting, even if they decide to keep 100% of their cashback. We pay this from the initial £5 admin fee we deduct from their cashback earnings.

Our members can also request that froggybank donate any proportion of their cash back earnings to carbon offsetting.

All commissions received from partner merchants in our froggy pond category will also go towards carbon offsetting and supporting other environmental causes.

There are more than 20 million online shoppers in the UK who are potentially unaware they can earn 100% of the middleman's fee on their shopping.

We estimate that it will take less than 1% of shoppers in the UK to support this campaign for us to reach the target.

Online publishers generated more than 3 billion worth of sales for retailers in 2007 (growing by 45% annually).

Our aim is to channel some of the commission paid for these sales into consumers' pockets, enabling them to donate to good causes.

Online sales in the UK were worth 12.8 billion in 2007, showing 75% growth between 2005 and 2007. Expected to grow to 40 billion by 2012. (Source: Mintel European retail forecasts research, March 2008.)

The annual carbon footprint of an average Briton is about 10 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

Our members can earn hundreds of pounds a year just by doing their usual shopping - to offset this yearly emission and still pocket a few hundred pounds is very easy.

Examples of cashback earnings: Buying a mobile phone from 3 mobile could earn £80, Insurance from Pru £120, Broadband from Virgin £55. See the "how much can I earn" calculator in the right menu for the latest cashback amounts.

Shoppers pay nothing extra for using our site or to offset carbon. We take care of paying you the cashback or making the donations to the charities if you choose.

Pure is a UK based registered charity with the specific objective of improving air quality - so combating climate change. froggybank.co.uk supports PURE because the charity offers the highest standards. Don't just take our word for it..

"The Government welcomes the launch of PURE's carbon offsetting scheme. The scheme offers credits that have been generated from emissions reductions that are regulated, verified and for which there is a clear audit trail."

Ian Pearson MP, Minister of State for Climate Change and the Environment (Nov 2006)

"PURE is a unique 'carbon offset' charity with very high standards, low administration costs and complete transparency. Donations from businesses and individuals alike make a quick and measurable difference to climate change"

Sir David Brewer. Former Lord Mayor of London and Trustee of PURE.

Froggybank.co.uk runs this campaign in association with PURE. See more details on PURE.

Our company has been rewarding consumers for their online shopping for the past 4 years and heavily subsidizes the running of this website using our other revenue. More about us

All donations from their earnings are voluntary and we do not bill our members or enforce any obligations to shop through our site.

Shoppers can sign-up and support the campaign by donating their cashback earnings and referring their friends and family. Sign-up free as a supporter of PURE here.

This campaign is wholly funded by the referral revenue the retailers pay us for our member's purchases. No money is charged to any of our members and we do not collect cash donations from anyone.

While we have big targets, we do not have big advertising budget since we operate on a thin margin. So any help in raising awareness of this campaign would be much appreciated.

If you want to contact us about this campaign or offer words of support, you can do so by emailing .

Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs - Defra
Cheap and Simple Energy Saving Tips from Energy Saving Trust
WWF has a comparison document of offset standards available to download here
Treehugger has a lot of information on climate and carbon
Guardian article about carbon calculators
Defra Carbon offset code of practice
Guardian Carbon Offset News Section