Going Green with Credit Cards

Posted by: Gene M. | Apr 08,2008


There are similarities between the growing reliance on debt and the current environmental problems.  Is it really a coincidence that there is doom-saying talk about the environmental crisis at the same time as the growing credit crisis?  I’d say not.  In a way, they’re a product of the same type of thinking: short-term fulfillment without thinking about long-term consequences.  

Think about it: the environment is in disarray because we’ve gone for short-term profits or comfort without thinking of the long-term environmental damage.  Yeah, a giant SUV is comfortable and safe, but it has a terrible effect on the environment long-term.  The credit crisis is the product of a similar mindset: mortgage investors went for quick short-term profits in subprime mortgage that had limited long-term prospects.  The idea that ties the two problems together is one word: sustainability.  

So what can you do – short of buying a Prius, cutting down on electrical use, and the like?  This is a credit card blog, so let’s start there.  Here’s a checklist of environmental friendliness:

1. Sign up for online billing.  This doesn’t always work, so you may have to request that your bill is never sent by mail.  For instance, I signed up for online billpay for my cellphone.  They still sent me a printed record of the bill every month.  It seemed pointless and a waste of money on their part so I requested to have the record not sent. 
   
2. Cut down on pre-approved credit card offers.  One day deep in the future we’ll look back on our incredible wastefulness with paper the way we look back on doctors using leeches in medieval times.  It’s incredible that we receive mailings every day that we just throw away.  Either you can sign up with a credit monitoring service, which will cut pre-approved offers for you, or you can contact the major credit bureaus directly asking for these offers to stop filling up your mailbox.
   
3. Cut down on other credit card paperwork: the bill isn't the only thing your credit card sends you every month.  Most every credit card company will also send you cash advance checks throughout the month.  They'd just love for you to use these checks because they have twice the interest rate or even more.  Most people just throw these right in the trash (after tearing them up or shredding them, of course).  You can request that your credit card company stops sending the checks.  Here's a great article about how to do this, in addition to stopping pre-approved offers. 
   
4. Recycle whatever credit card mail you do get and don’t need: after shredding it so it doesn’t get into an identity thief’s hands.  
5. Get a green rewards card.  These are similar to cash back rewards cards except the cash back goes to an environmental cause.  Likewise, there are environmentally-friendly companies that are either environmentally safe or use the proceeds to donate to charity.  If you use a green rewards card with this type of company, you’ll be doing double the good. 

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