Green Options » bills

Green Power Costs Contributing to Utility Shut Offs?

Joe Walsh — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:53:39 +0000

It is strange to be reading so many stories about premium-priced green power programs and net metering programs for excess power right alongside stories about utilities performing record numbers of shut-offs for non-payment.

Bills Could Reorganize Farming and Criminalize Organic Farming

Megan Prusynski — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:30:57 +0000

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In two vague bills introduced both in the House and Senate of the US Congress, a vast reorganization of America’s agriculture system aimed at tracking and regulating foods for public safety could endanger organic farms and gardens.

The bills, S.425 and H.R.875, attempt to modernize food safety and regulate and standardize agriculture by creating an agency called the Food Safety Administration, but in the process they could threaten organic farming.

Electronic Bills, Convenience and Sustainability

Amiel Blajchman — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:01:24 +0000

How many bills do you get per month? If you’re like the vast majority of North Americans, you get a boatload. And every month, you probably take one look at them, pay the bill, and then shred it and toss it into your recycling bin.

While I still get excited when I get mail that is addressed to me, I’m not quite as excited about it when it turns out to be yet another bill. Recently though, I’ve found some services that have let me avoid getting bills in the mail (unfortunately, for some reason, I still have to pay them… I haven’t quite figured out how to avoid that aspect yet!).

Tip o’ the Day: Your Bills Will (Virtually) Disappear

Rebecca Carter — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:55:29 +0000

It's the only real mail we get anymore. Well, besides junk mail, but you should have gotten rid of that months ago. Going to the mailbox and seeing a big open space may not be that exciting, but if you have to receive bills, wouldn't you rather just do it electronically? It seems to hurt less. Plus, it's good for the environment, and your pocketbook.

If you haven't gotten on the e-bill train yet, we're here to tell you why it's so great. First of all, we'll cover the stats. For every 38,000 bills paid paperless:

1 Ton of Paper is saved
2 Tons of Trees are preserved
16,450 Gallons of Water is saved
1,941 Pounds of Solid Waste is avoided
60 Pounds of Air Emissions are eliminated
5,058 Pound of Greenhouse Gasses are avoided

You can sign up for e-bills in several ways. One way is to sign up with each of your providers separately. They'll stop sending you paper bills, will probably send you a reminder each time there is a bill waiting for you, and you can go online and pay via credit card or through your bank account. Of course, if you don't want to even be dealing with processing electronic payments each month, you could have your credit card automatically pay the bill each month.

Finally, if you use a "big bank" you may be able to request e-bills directly through the bank. They will notify your provider, your paper bills will stop, and you'll be able to check your bills all from within your bank's website. There are benefits to each method, you'll just need to find what works best for you.

If you're not on the e-bill bandwagon, give it a shot. The Electronic Payments Association (everyone has an association these days!) even says that paying electronically helps people save money, time, and even improve their credit scores (easier on time payments). It makes life so much simpler. No more stamps. No more checks. No more bills glaring at you. Ahhh….

Rebecca says: I'm almost completely electronic, and I love it. I have a three-part system. The bills that are always the same amount and I've never had issues with incorrect statements from the providers - get paid automatically on a credit card each month. (Hotel points, cha-ching!) Other bills arrive straight into "my bills" section of my bank page, and can all be paid and tracked so easily from there. It takes me about 5-10 minutes to pay all of my bills each month. I'm so much more organized now that I've gotten rid of the paper, too.

Statistics courtesty of ElectronicPayments.org / NACHA.

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