Paper or Plastic: When the Bill Comes Due
Paper or plastic?
It used to be one of the dominant decisions for consumers.
But as more and more supermarkets and other stores have phased out the use of so-called disposable plastic bags, a different environmental question still lingers: Paper or electronic? Bills, that is.
For many people, paying bills online is a no-brainer way to save time and resources. But millions of Americans continue to receive all their bills by mail, which they pay with paper checks, send with postage, and add to the handling of even more paper mail moving around the country.
It’s estimated that if every American household went paper-free for bill-paying the environmental impact would include
• Reducing solid waste in U.S. landfills by more than 800,000 tons a year
• Saving an estimated 18.5 million trees every year
• Curbing the release of greenhouse gases by 2.1 million tons a year
Some hard-copy holdouts cite security concerns in not going paperless. But others are unable or unwilling to cross a psychological barrier. “I choose to get and pay my bills by mail because it feels more substantial to me,” says a 30 year-old colleague who otherwise recycles and reduces elsewhere in her life. “I just don’t think it’s my responsibility to go paperless if it makes me feel insecure.”
Tell us what you think: Should you be responsible for reducing your carbon footprint by putting away the checkbook and paying bills electronically? When the environmentally responsible route makes you feel uneasy, is it personally responsible to override it?
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I’ve done without paper bills for a long time and for the most part I am happy with online banking. In my opinion the real problem is caused by postal trash, better known as marketing and advertisement. I’ve signed up for every opt-out list I’ve found and many companies keep on sending me unsolicited catalogs, mailers, offers, coupons, etc. I don’t even look at them; they go straight to the recycling bin and make about 1/3 of the trash that I dispose of every week.
Anonymous | 1 year, 2 months ago
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paperless
Pay your bills online.
Anonymous | 1 year, 1 month ago
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West Palm Beach
Sounds great should have been doing it like this 20 years ago!
Anonymous | 1 year, 1 month ago
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Retired Science Teacher
Only REAL way to reduce “carbon footprint” is to stop the world and get off.
Anonymous | 1 year, 1 month ago
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paper or plastic?
I don’t agree with the stateson the landfill, paper rots. There is more wood wasted in other ares than paper. Green house gases! Lets take a look at trucking and airplanes to start.
Anonymous | 1 year, 1 month ago
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Let’s not forget the impact of junk mail and poor management of space on monthly bills on reducing the use of paper.
ed | 1 year, 1 month ago
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Pay online
Pay bill online with least amount of fraud cases.
Anonymous | 1 year, 1 month ago
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I think this idea is great
I think this idea is great to be able to pay your bills online without having to deal with working late and not having time to go do your errands and everything!
yolonda rodriguez | 1 year, 1 month ago
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Have been paying my bills
I have been paying my bills for years without using paper; at first by phone and later by computer.
I’m a senior. It’s easy, convenient and less costly. You can now keep track of every bill you have paid, as well as being notified when you have paid your bills (electronically). You can also download those paid bills to your computer or thumb drive for a record of your payment.
In winter or bad weather you can sit at your computer and make payment anytime of the day. In all the years of using online banking I have yet to find an error. Go Green because people make errors, computers only replicate those errors.
John Schneider | 1 year, 1 month ago
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What I think
I truly believe that if everyone did their part, the economy and the world would get better. If we learn to come together and at least try to do our part, the world will heal.
micheal | 1 year ago
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