Analyst: online banking could save 17m trees each year

Tekrati, the analyst reporting service, has flagged up research by Javelin Strategy and Research that puts a environmental value on the shift to banking online.

Read the full Tekrati story here - or buy the report from Javelin, which covers more than just the headline grabbing green case.

Some of the envirnmental headlines Tekrati highlighted were:

The Yearly Benefits -- If All U.S. Households Viewed and Paid Bills Online:

• Saves 2.3 million tons of wood, or 16.5 million trees.
• Reduces fuel consumption by 26 million BTUs – enough energy to provide residential power to San Francisco for an entire year.
• Decreases toxic air pollutants by 3.9 billion pounds of CO2 equivalents (greenhouse gases), akin to having 355,000 fewer cars on the road.
• Reduces toxic wastewater by 13 billion gallons, enough to fill almost 20,000 swimming pools.
• Lowers solid waste generated by 1.6 billion pounds – equal to 56,000 fully loaded garbage trucks.
• Removes 8.5 million particulates and 12.6 million nitrogen oxides from the air – on par with taking 763,000 buses and 48,000 18-wheelers off the streets.
• Saves landfill space and curbs the amount of toxic chemicals, including methane gas, released into the atmosphere as paper decomposes.

Personally, I find the overlap between banks, their use of technology and their ability to respond to both green and other CSR type issues, really relevant and interesting.

It drifts a little from Finextra's core subject matter - and I joined Pete's Going Green community - but is this the sort of issue area we'd like to hear more about?