Green Up Your Finances
By Jay Futterman
There are a lot of things you can do around the house to lower your carbon emissions: getting your energy from renewable sources, making your home more energy-efficient, and replacing fossil fuel appliances with clean electric options. But one thing you might not be considering is your daily financial choices.
On a very basic level, eat your food. Food production requires lots of resources. When food is wasted, so are those resources. Same with clothes. The carbon footprint of the fast fashion industry is enormous. Wear what you buy, buy it to last, and don’t buy more than you need.
How you spend and save money also makes a difference. Many big banks use your deposit money to fund the fossil fuel industry. To see just how much your bank is contributing to the climate crisis, check out the Banking on Climate Chaos report. Similarly, every time you use a credit card, a portion of that transaction goes to the bank that is listed on the back. My United Airlines credit card gives me points for hotel stays, but it gives Chase Bank money every time I use it. Chase Bank has financed over $430 billion in fossil fuel projects since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015.
Fortunately, we have good options for our banking that align with our values. You can choose to bank with a local bank, which is more likely to keep its deposits within the community rather than in oil fields. Even better is to keep your deposits in a bank that will put them to use financing clean energy projects. Bank for Good can help you find one. I personally bank at Atmos Financial and the Clean Energy Credit Union. For credit cards, check out some of the options at Green America. Third Act has a lot of resources on these topics.
Investing your money is more complicated, and I recommend consulting with a professional before making any major decisions. If you have money in stocks or mutual funds, you may be putting your investments to work for companies that contribute to climate change. Green Portfolio and Fossil Free Funds are among the sites that can help you measure the climate impact of your investments and identify greener investment options. Another interesting organization is As You Sow: it focuses on harnessing the power of shareholders to change corporate behavior in more positive directions for the environment.
Calvert Impact offers an investment portfolio that helps fund community and environmental needs around the world. There are also crowdfunding-type investment opportunities that focus on more direct climate-related projects or companies. Examples include Steward, which focuses on lending to regenerative agriculture projects; Climatize, which is directed at funding specific solar or electrification projects; and Raise Green / Honeycomb Credit, which targets early stage green businesses. Some of these types of investments are restricted to “accredited investors” who must meet specific income or asset criteria, or they may be higher-risk investments.
They say “money talks.” Think about what yours is saying. Collectively, a few simple changes can make a big difference.
