We can save 16.5 million trees and avoid 3.9 billion tons of greenhouse gases … every year … if we do all our banking and bill paying online. These are the key findings from a recent study conducted by the Javelin Strategy & Research.

According to the report, "2007 Online Banking and Bill Payment," over half of US households are already cyber-banking, with about a third of us paying bills via the Web. And if we totally eliminated paper checks and bills … every year … we would also:

• Save 2.3 million tons of wood.
• Reduce fuel consumption by enough to power up homes in San Francisco for an entire year. (That&39;s where Credit.com is based!)
• Decrease toxic air pollutants by the equivalent of having 355,000 fewer cars on the road.
• Reduce toxic wastewater by 13 billion gallons.

According to the report&39;s author, Mary Monahan, "Bankers can meet consumer needs while providing vital environmental benefits. In addition, emerging features such as two-way mobile or email alerts … can transform today&39;s overwhelming flood of online information into an experience that is green, safe and practical for everyone."

We&39;re All in It Together
Javelin&39;s study finds that with the current state-of-the-art for online money management:

"… emerging technologies actually fulfill common needs, ranging from the basic (access to one&39;s complete financial picture) to emerging capabilities (mobile banking and payments, live chat, banking blogs, Web 2.0 bank-sponsored community forums, or bulletin boards). Companies can also provide important safety advantages with paperless options that minimize criminal mail access, user-defined activity alerts, fraud-loss guarantees and the ability to safely log in and monitor activity from nearly anywhere."

Sounds good to me! What do you think?