Are Green Savings Accounts Worthwhile
With regard to the first question, there are some accounts that bill themselves as green when what they really mean is paperless. Now there is no doubt that this does save paper and trees etc in the process, but still many people think that by going green it means doing more than simply saving the bank the money on having to send out paper statements etc!
Of course there are a range of savings accounts offered by companies like Charity Bank, Triodos and the Co-operative Bank that genuinely do have ethical and/or green principles behind them, such as only lending to charities or only making ethical investments, as well as several accounts that donate interest or a percentage of it to specified charities and so on.
Whilst there is little doubt therefore that those accounts do aid charities, are they worth it? Specifically, given the fact that these accounts tend to have a worse return than the market leading accounts, would it not be better simply to get the better financial return from another product, and then donate a percentage of that directly to your charity of choice?
This is where the jury is out - if you will be disciplined enough to work out what the return is and what income you are getting on the market leading investment and then donating it to the charity of your choice, then it is hard to argue that is a bad idea, so it really is up to you and what you decide to do on a personal level when it comes to your savings and how best to help charities or green and environmental issues as a result.
Date last updated: 01 Jan 1970
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