Go Paperless When Paying Bills
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past ten years, you know that there is a big movement out there to reduce the use of paper to help save the environment. Many companies, including banks and credit card companies, have provided their customers with ways to pay their bills online, thus curbing the mass quantity of account statements and bills they send out each month. If good karma and saving the planet isn’t enough for you to change your ways, here are a few more you may not have thought of.
Not only can you help Mother Nature but you can also make your life a little more convenient by going paperless. According to a 2007 report by Javelin Strategy and Research, the typical U.S. household sent or received an average of 26 bills, statements and checks per month in 2006. Instead of paying your 26 separate bills, one by one, you can pay them all online in a matter of minutes. Chances are your bank has online bill pay, but even if it doesn’t many credit cards and utility companies have online portals where you can sign on and pay.
Going paperless also reduces clutter. Without those excess bills and papers piling up every month, just waiting to be thrown away, you can finally get a chance to organize the documents and other files that are important. It will also save you money for postage and decrease the number of checks you have to write every month. So you actually save money going online too.
When your bills are paid they most likely sit in a pile and gather dust until you notice them a few months later and throw them away. If you’re not careful they could fall into the hands of identity thieves. One way these culprits get identities is to scour your trash looking for credit cards numbers, social security numbers and other important documents. By eliminating paper, there will never be anything to throw out for the wrong people to find.
Making paper uses a lot of water, a lot of trees and a lot of chemicals. The process also releases some nasty compounds into our air and rivers, including cancer-causing dioxins. So by reducing our need for paper, we can make the environment a little bit cleaner.
Reduce clutter, gain security, save time, money and the environment. What’s not to like?
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