How Will You Pay on Earth Day?

Before you use your credit card

The most powerful votes we cast are the little choices we make every day. We put a lot of time and effort into debating and formulating world-wide environmental issues and solutions. But on Earth Day it seems appropriate for us to stand back from the forest and take a look at the trees.

Think about the color of money

Take, for example, the choice to use cash or a debit or credit card for your next monetary transaction. When you pay for lunch today or stop at the store on your way home from work, will you use a plastic card or bills made of cotton and linen? Or will you make a blended transaction by paying with cash obtained from a cash advance on your credit card?  These are choices we make every day – and like all our day-to-day choices, they add up to powerful votes about our environment. So in honor of Earth Day, let's consider w hich vote is the greenest one.

Start with the raw materials

Plastic

Credit cards are made of polyvinyl chloride, a petroleum product that is rarely recycled, lasts just about forever in a landfill, and produces dioxins when incinerated. According to slate.com it takes about 4.25 grams of petroleum to manufacture one 5-gram credit card. Multiply that by 1.6 billion—the number of credit, debit, and ATM cards produced in America in 2007.  The lifespan of a credit or debit card is just two to four years. Add to this the billions of gift cards and store charge cards we manufacture every year.  Now throw in the fact that most gift cards are used only once. ... click here to read the rest of the article titled "How Will You Pay on Earth Day?"