If you are like most Americans, you sort your mail each night and then put aside the bills until you have time. Then, you discard the extra envelopes and paper that were included with the mail. Not only do financial bills, statements, and payments take a lot of time, but they also require a lot of natural resources.
According to the Pay It Green Alliance if 20 per cent of U.S. households switch to electronic bills and statements, payments would have a collective impact:
– Save 1.8million trees
-: Avoid producing nearly 2 million tons of greenhouse gasses.
– Avoid creating 1.4 million gallons wastewater. Enough wastewater to fill 2,180 Olympic swimming pools.
-: Do not fill 8.6 million garbage bags with household waste.
“It’s easier than most people think to turn off the paper in their financial lives,”Richard Oliver, Executive Vice President and Retail Payments Product Manager, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, said. “In three simple steps, consumers can begin reducing the impact that their financial transactions have on the environment by saving the resources needed to print and transport paper bills, statements and payments.”
Establishing a “Pay It Green”The three-step process of creating a household is easy: assess, ask, and act.
-Assess what paper bills, statements, or payments you currently have. An average American household receives 19 bills and statements per month.
Ask your employer, financial institution, and companies that send bills you how to manage your accounts, bills, and statements electronically. You can also receive and make electronic payments.
-: Act upon your decision by setting a deadline to turn off the paper. “Pay It Green”Household.
Electronic payments are not only simple but also safe and smart. A Javelin Strategy and Research study found that almost 85 percent identity theft cases can be attributed to electronic payments. “offline”Transactions like lost checkbooks, stolen bills, statements, and check payments. You can be assured that your financial information and personal details are kept private with electronic payments. It is much easier to lose or steal a payment and it is more secure.
While it may seem like a small thing to do, it can have a significant environmental impact. Ask for your electronic statements, financial statements, and bills.
You can learn more about how greening up your finances can have a positive impact on your life. www.payitgreen.org.
