Go Green in 08

Posted by: Meredith K. | Dec 26,2007

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.  Here’s an entry about a gift you can give the earth if 2008: green credit cards.  It’s nice to see that green is in.  Hopefully it’s not a fad and green programs become more and more common.  There are now three green credit cards on the market, including the Brighter Planet Visa Card and the Earth Rewards MasterCard.

 

Mainly these cards are a kind of rewards program for charity.  So instead of you collecting rewards points, the points (read: dollars) go to environmental projects aimed at helping the Global Warming crisis.  For every $1000 spent on the card, the Brighter Planet card is said to offset a ton of carbon emissions.  That’s the same as driving a car 2000 miles.    

Imagine if everyone on earth had one of these credit cards.  It could really help with carbon emission research and reduction.  However, you know what could also help the environment?  Not sending out millions of credit card offers every year.  Junk mail is a tragic thing really: a tree’s been cut down and then the mail is thrown directly into the trash.  Never mind recycling junk mail, credit card companies should reduce the amount of credit card junk mail they send out.  

You can also do your part by contacting the credit bureaus and removing yourself from these junk mail lists.  Remember that it’s not just the trees that went into producing the mail, but the factory to produce the mail and the emissions from the transport of the mail.  The same goes for using the card at all.  Whenever you buy an imported good, you’re also contributing the emissions it took to bring that product over here.  So the benefits of the card could be offset by how it’s used.  These green cards are a step in the right direction, but let’s make sure it’s not just window-dressing for a real problem.  

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