7 Ways to Go Greener This Earth Day

We care about our community and our planet, so in light of Earth Day we’ve put together this short list of ways that you can go green that involve your banking. Many of these items simply help by saving trees and cutting back on emissions from transportation but some of them add up to real “green” savings.

1. Enroll in our Online and Mobile Banking where you can transfer money, monitor transactions, and even make that deposit by your phone instead of driving to the branch. (Although we love to see your smiling faces.)
   
   
2. Direct Deposit. Contact your favorite branch and ask them how you can get your next paycheck automatically deposited into your account. We’ll help you enroll.
   
   
3. Paperless Statements. You can enroll in these yourself through online banking. Simply go to Menu>>Account Maintenance>>Statements>> and follow the prompts.
   
   
4. Pay Bills Online. Set up payees so that you can pay bills once, as needed, or set them to recur in our Online Bill Pay. You can even talk to your favorite banker about having payments automatically taken from your account if the amount and due date are always the same.
   
   
5. Home improvements. There are many energy efficient updates that you can make to your home. Not only will they help the planet, but they can boost the value of your home while saving you money. Some even qualify for tax deductions. If the updates you’re considering have a higher price tag, you may want to talk to your favorite lender to see if refinancing is a good solution to help cover the cost.
   
   
6. Support local businesses. This list would be incomplete if we didn’t talk about the importance of supporting local options wherever possible. While we may still need to commute and have items delivered, we can significantly reduce emissions and packaging materials, while supporting the local economy. There are other benefits to your community too, when you do! Let our Buck Stays Here Directory get you started.
   
   
7. Replacing commonly used items. Throughout your day take inventory of the items that are only single use and consider how you might replace them. Permanent items may have more of an initial cost up front but the savings from not having to replace them regularly, adds up.
   
   The same is true for replacing common household (items like toiletries and cleaners) with recipes that you can make at home. You may be surprised to learn how many ingredients you already have on hand.

Have other suggestions? We’d love to hear them. Please leave a comment and let us know. After all, it takes the whole community coming together. What better reason to do so than for our Earth, especially when you get to be a recipient of the benefits.