A while back I was reading Which? magazine and they did a feature on ethical money. I can't find in online and you probably need to be a subscriber anyway. So I thought I'd highlight a few things because it's important to use it wisely.
Mortgages - apparently some building societies will plant trees for you if you have a mortgage with them. Norwich & Peterborough and London & Country are the leaders. Or you could get the best mortgage you can and plant trees yourself.
Car insurance - Cars are big polluters and there are a couple of options that include offsetting as part of the deal. Ibuyeco and Co-ops Eco-insurance
I haven't done any of those things yet but might think about the car insurance next time around. However I would challenge you to think about your bank. Most banks aren't known for their ethics at the best of times and this clearly isn't the best of times. Their dealings, general greediness and utter lack of remorse for the mess they've caused would all make me think of moving my account. If enough Christians switched it would probably send a pretty strong message. So for Banks you could consider Charity Bank, Triodos Bank, Smile or the Co-operative Bank.
I'm with Smile as it's an internet bank and is owned by the Co-op who claim "aren't reliant on money markets, aren't accountable to stock markets, seen a 40% rise in savings accounts and are still the only high street bank with an ethical policy"
Monday, December 01, 2008
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1 comments:
Thanks for this. I've been meaning to do a comparison of the banks at some point. I bank with the Co-op, which is safer than most banks, more ethical, and gives you a share of the profits too, so an all round winner. Triodos are the only bank to publish a list of everyone they lend to, which is a great idea. They only do savings at the moment though.
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