A mall in Norway is aiming to offer the true one-stop shopping experience. Not only can you pick up the essentials at the Stroemmen Storsenter shopping centre near Oslo, you can also purchase U.N.-approved credits to offset your carbon footprint in the process.

By day two of the initiative, approximately one-third of the 1,000 CERs (Certified Emissions Reductions) had sold, however the mall managers said they would consider buying more if the idea was a hit and the credits sold out. One CER is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions and costs 164 Norwegian crowns, or US $30.58. The mall is selling the credits at cost plus a 10 per cent administration and will not make a profit from sales, but rather will give the money to C02focus, the management company they have partnered wtih.

"Many people want to buy reductions, but until we started this in the shopping mall, they haven't known where to get them, but now they are available to everybody," said Ole Herredsvela, the shopping centre's technical manager.  "We are doing this also to create awareness among people towards the problem (of climate change)," he said.

What do you think about carbon credit programs? Would you purchase credits if they were sold in a convenient location like your local mall?

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