Inhabitat Interviews Shiply Green Logistics Company Founder Robert Matthams

<a title="Shiply green shipping and logistics" href="http://www.shiply.com" target="_blank">Shiply</a> is a UK-based <a title="Inhabitat: logistics" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=logistics" target="_blank">green logistics</a> company founded by young entrepreneur Robert Matthams after he realized that the current way goods are shipped and delivered to households is extremely wasteful, leaving 25% of trucks and 15% of delivery vans empty after delivering packages to homes and businesses. Robert's idea was simple: pair the empty returning delivery trucks with new deliveries, and he could save money, time, and fuel while making shipping <a title="Inhabitat: green" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=green" target="_blank">green</a>. And just like that, Robert had redesigned the logistics industry to a new, greener standard. The response has been phenomenal. Shiply offers a very disruptive 75% savings over the competition in the UK for shipping nearly any item, and has quickly amassed a 400,000-client user base that puts 30,000 transport providers to better use. We sat down to ask Robert about how all of this got started, and where he sees shipping and logistics in our <a title="Inhabitat: eco-friendly" href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=eco-friendly" target="_blank">eco-friendly</a> future. He couldn't comment on when Shiply would expand to the U.S. and other countries across the world, but we gather Mr. Matthams has big plans for Shiply, and for the future of transport.

Shiply founder Robert Matthams has stacked up numerous awards, including Shell Young Entrepreneur of the Year, for his ground-breaking work in making shipping and transport eco-friendly and efficient.

What is delivery trucks could be put to use both coming to and going from their delivery destination? That's the simple idea behind breakthrough green logistics company Shiply.

Robert believes the future of shipping is even greener than his company can make it right now, but you can be sure he'll be on the forefront of taking green logistics to the skies or wherever the future takes us.

Especially as e-commerce has taken off, the greening of logistics has become an important issue. If delivery vans could be made more eco-friendly, ordering goods directly to your home or business could be the greenest option all around.