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Green Money

Lets talk about green money, green financing and sustainable investing. Being green in the way you save, and invest, your money is as important as how you spend it. This page will attempt to give you some pertinent information to think about in terms of being green with your money.

First order of business when talking about green money is the waste of plastic and paper used by banks. ATM transactions amounted to 600 billion dollars in cash being given out. Along with that cash came the little paper receipts. The ones that cover the ground around many ATMs. The average person owns 4 credit cards, four pieces of plastic that all have monthly statements attached to them. Now think about all the other bills you get in the mail each month, all of the envelopes filled with other pieces of advertising. That is just the beginning of the vast amount of paper used in the world of finance. Here are a few things we can do to help.

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ATM Receipt : Just say no to those little receipts, you really don't need them. If we all did that we would save enough paper to wrap one of those rolls around the earth fifteen times.

Automatic Deposit : Deposit your pay check automatically and save the paper and the running around. More than seven million checks a year could be replaced by direct deposits. Give that one some thought.

Paperless Bank Statements : I get paperless everything, it's easier and so much greener. Many banks will credit you a dollar to use internet bank statements. If we all did that, and combined all that money, we could send more than seventeen thousand high school grads to college for a full year.

Online Banking : Not just your statements, but practically all your banking, can be done online. Less than half of those who could use this service actually do. Why they prefer driving to the bank and waiting in line to take care of the business that could have been done from your home computer while still in your jamies. Proper use of a computer can be very green, especially when it reduces paper waste and driving.

Electronic Payments : If every household were to pay only it's credit card bill electronically it would save almost 2 billion dollars a year in postage costs. That's just postage and just credit cards. The green way is to pay all of your bills electronically and receive your statements online. Think how many trees that would save. It might put the poor postal service out of business, but that's another topic for another page.

Checks : Electronic checking is another paper and postage saver.

Brokerage Statements : Again, go paperless, there is just no reason why not. Spend the time to learn how to use, and how to trust, your computer.

Stock Investing : Out of the thousands of stock brokers doing business today only a small number of them admit to investing with the environment in mind. Find one, if you can, and invest green.

Prospectuses : Do you really read these things? Scan them on the computer, download them if you want to, but save the paper. These things are like books and they usually do nothing but sit around until they are thrown away. One billion dollars in printing costs could be saved if all investors were to choose this option.

IRS : Send your tax returns electronically and receive your refunds the same way. Entire forests could be saved if we all adopted this habit. And all that postage could sure be put to better use.

Trade Confirmations : If you buy stocks have your trade confirmations sent to your email not your house mail. Twenty billion shares of stock get traded daily, creating a paper trail beyond imagination.

Deposits and Withdrawals : Use the ATM instead of going to the teller. Tellers are required to use more paper than what is really needed to make a simple electronic transaction. If every teller in America took one less deposit an hour four million pieces of paper a day would be saved.