If You Must Use Plastic, Consider a Green Credit Card

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If You Must Use Plastic, Consider a Green Credit Card

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Given the recent financial crisis, many banks are going green not just because they want to clean up their image but also because they want to clean up the planet. Financial institutions across America now offer consumers a variety of green credit card and other personal banking choices as part of their commitment to bail out the environment.

photo credit: andresrueda

Credit Cards

Wells Fargo for example, offers rewards cards that let consumers redeem points for eco-friendly purchases, such as seed-growing kits and garden composters, as well as renewable-energy certificates. Going paperless, a move almost all banks offer, enables customers to save trees and lower carbon dioxide emissions while reducing their own risk for late fees and fraud.

Affinity cards are cards issued by a major bank in partnership with a select organization or charity. Each time you use an affinity card, the issuing bank donates a set amount to the partner organization—averaging half a penny for every dollar you charge or transfer, according to Bankrate.com. Examples of affinity cards include:

• Bank of America’s Brighter Planet credit card, which gives customers one “EarthSmart” point for every dollar spent. The points are automatically redeemed each month in support of renewable energy projects,. The bank says that each 1,000-point increment offsets 1 ton of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of taking a car off the road for two months.

• Working Assets Visa Card, which donates ten cents with every purchase to a portfolio of 50 progressive nonprofit organizations, including ForestEthics and Oxfam America

Posted on Apr 09, 2009

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America, bank, Bank of America, Bank of America Corporation, cent, personal banking choices, renewable energy projects, renewable-energy certificates, Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo & Company

About the Author

Reenita Malhotra

Reenita Malhotra Hora is an Ayurveda clinician and freelance writer. Native to Mumbai, she resides in San Francisco with her husband and two kids where she helps people to achieve their wellness goals. Reenita writes for a variety of sustainability media including Green Options, Green Living Ideas, National Geographic Kids, SustainLane and more. Check out her wisdom at www.reenita.com.

2 Responses to “If You Must Use Plastic, Consider a Green Credit Card”

livinglopez

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Apr 09, 2009

Fortunately, natural cleaning products are gaining in popularity and offer an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective alternative to the toxic household cleaning products used in many homes today.
Lijun

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Apr 14, 2009

Hello from http:// nihaoreno.net, I am a journalism graduate student of University of Nevada, Reno. We create the English Chines bilingual blog to introduce, share green living ideas and tips.

Plastic bags are eco- unfriendly, but it makes our daily life very convenient . If we can replace it by another convenient and eco- friendly stuff, I am sure it would be easy to convince people to use it as less as possible.