Sure, you can earn cash back on your credit card or rack up some frequent flier miles.

But do you actually use your miles—or do you find yourself redeeming them for magazines you don’t even read?

And while cash back is nice, it usually doesn’t make a huge difference to how much money you have in the bank.

On the other hand, your credit card rewards could make a big difference to your favorite charity.

√ Groups working to protect the planet are usually non-profits with very limited budgets that don’t begin to match how much they’re trying to get done.

√ Why not earmark your credit card rewards for sustainability-focused programs and initiatives that you’d like to support anyway?

Here are five ways — plus 1 — you can
use your credit card rewards to protect the planet.

1) Donate your cash back rewards to your favorite organization.
Some groups only charge an annual membership fee of $15. That might be the amount of cash back you earn in a month.

⇒Look at your credit card statements for the past 12 months to determine how much cash, on average, you’ve earned per month.

⇒ Set up an automatic bill pay relationship for that amount with your favorite environmental charity.

This is probably the most hassle-free way to donate —and it won’t cost you anything out of your normal budget.

2) Donate your miles.
Many environmental organizations conduct field research, travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with their members of Congress, or bring activists to their state capitals to huddle with legislators and participate in rallies and other events.

When you donate your miles, you’ll save these groups big bucks they might otherwise spend on plane, train and bus tickets.

3) Get a credit card that automatically benefits an environmental group.
⇒ For example, Sierra Club has partnered with One PacificCoast Bank, FSB, a community development bank, so that a percentage of every purchase made using the Club’s Visa Platinum credit card “furthers the Sierra Club’s mission to protect wild and scenic places for future generations.”

⇒ The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund have both partnered with BankAmericard in a similar arrangement.

4) Earmark your rewards for carbon offsets.
The Sustain:Green credit card, a MasterCard, encourages consumers to offset their carbon “footprint”—how much carbon dioxide their behavior generates—by using their card.

⇒ Sustain:Green reduces a user’s carbon footprint by 2 pounds for every dollar spent. Plus, the company will reduce a customer’s carbon footprint by an additional 5,000 pounds of carbon offsets when the first purchase is made within 90 days.

⇒ Sustain:Green has partnered with the non-profit American Carbon Registry and the Mata No Peito rainforest initiative to achieve its goals. Bonus: The actual card is biodegradable.

5) Redeem your points for a contribution to a charity.
⇒ Automate this if your card or bank allow you to.

⇒ Otherwise, put it on your calendar to do every quarter—if you wait until the end of the year, competition from holiday spending and other expenses might get in the way.

PLUS: Use a credit card set up specifically to donate to non-profits.
⇒ CREDO donates ten cents to nonprofit organizations with every CREDO Visa card purchase. The user earns triple points for grocery store purchases and charitable giving.

The donations can be earmarked for any of the 50 charities CREDO supports, including the League of Conservation Voters, 350.org, the Organic Consumers Association, Black Lives Matter Fund, and Stop the Next War Fund.

The post 5 Ways to Use Your Credit Card Rewards to Protect the Planet appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Your demand for more eco-friendly cars is inspiring Ford Motor Company to manufacture vehicles that get better gas mileage, use more recycled materials, tap alternative (and less polluting) fuels, and maybe even help you save energy when you’re not driving (think: washing your clothes).

I recently spent two days at the Go Further With Ford Trends Conference at Ford’s headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, where I had a chance to see first-hand what the company is doing to reduce its environmental impact. Full disclosure: Ford paid all expenses for the trip, though did not pay me a fee, is not paying for this post, and in fact required no post at all. I saw the visit as an opportunity to see “up close and personal” what the company is doing to make good on its sustainability claims. Here’s what I found out.

Bill Ford (aka William Clay Ford, Jr., the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford) opened the first morning briefing by calling automobile manufacturing “the ultimate disruptive industry.” That was probably the truest statement I heard over the two days I was in Dearborn. Creating vehicles that allowed people to travel long distances in relative ease changed the nature of our cities and towns, enabled other new industries to develop, even encouraged us to socialize and date in ways we couldn’t (or didn’t) in the horse and buggy era. But those same vehicles also led to a dependence on fossil fuels that has threatened our national security, polluted our air and water, and changed the climate to such a degree that the whole world is being impacted by global warming. For years, Ford has acknowledged these impacts as he’s pushed his company to manufacture cleaner combustion engines, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, cleaner propulsion systems, and even the use of recycled fibers and soybean-based fabrics.

These  are all steps in the right direction, but much more must be done, as the Ford scion acknowledged, starting with electric vehicles. “We need to get ubiquity of plug-in stations to overcome range anxiety,” he noted. Infrastructure devoted to cleaner, greener transportation options “is the key to changing the future.”

On a side note, Ford declared that “it would be great to have a female CEO” when Alan Mullaly, the company’s current chief executive, steps down. I completely agree!

Speaking of Alan Mullaly, at a dinner the evening before our briefings began, I had a chance to ask him what Ford was doing to teach people to drive more fuel efficiently. Mulally acknowledged that,
while Ford’s vehicles achieve high MPG under ideal driving conditions, drivers in “the real world” often sacrifice fuel efficiency for speed. A feedback feature in many Ford vehicles will now tell you exactly how much fuel you’re using when you drive, making it clear that when you speed up and slow down, tail gate, and drive erratically you’re burning fuel. Ford has also issued a Personalized Fuel Efficiency App Challenge, inviting consumers and mobile app developers to come up with technology to help drivers use less gas. You can enter up until July 24, and maybe take home a portion of the $50,000 in prize money that will be awarded to makers of the winning designs.

At a session called Sculpting the Future, J Mays, Ford’s group vice president of design and the company’s chief creative officer, noted, “The idea that cars should go vroom is an old guys story.” Today, he says, Ford is looking for a car that not just looks snazzy but gets great mileage, too. He pointed to the Fusion as a “great looking car that also gets 47 mpg.” (You can read about my Fusion test drive here.)

All this sounds well and good. But at the end of the day, as I frequently pointed out during the Trends event, Ford still makes cars – polluting vehicles that, even at 47 mpg, take too great a toll on our health, and the health of the planet.

To my surprise, John Viera, Ford’s global director for sustainability and vehicle environmental matters, pretty much agreed. The challenge, he said, is to “do more good, not just less bad.”

For starters, he said, “We need to think about how to make lifestyles more sustainable, not just
vehicles.” Viera referred to partnerships the company has developed with Whirlpool, Georgia Tech and Sunpower to get consumers like you and me thinking about saving energy everywhere we use it, including when we’re doing the laundry or heating and cooling our homes. Viera envisions a world where your cell phone connects to a smart meter in your home to help regulate your thermostat, to your car to suggest fuel-saving driving tips, and to your appliances so you can maximize their performance using the minimum amount of energy. In fact, Ford calls this the “My Energi” lifestyle. You can read an impartial analysis of the program here.

Related articles

Shopping for a New Car? There are Plenty of Gas Sippers to Choose From.

The post People Like You Are Inspiring Ford Motor Co. To Make Greener Cars appeared first on Big Green Purse.

How can the world’s two consumer “superpowers”- the U.S. and China – work together to reduce the impact that consumption has on us and our world?

That was the topic a capacity crowd addressed on March 22 at the U.S. – China Greener Consumption Forum. The event, held at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. and co-sponsored by Big Green Purse and the International Fund for China’s Environment, pulled together scientists, consumer advocates, public policy advocates, and green entrepreneurs to share ideas about strategies to inspire manufacturers to create greener goods — and get consumers to buy them.

HIGHLIGHTS:

The Forum focused primarily on women because women spend 85 cents of every dollar in the  marketplace – and we’re not just buying cheese doodles and diapers. As I say here on CCTV, the national television network of China, we buy more clothes. More food.  More cosmetics and personal care products than men. We also buy more electronics, more home furnishings, almost as many tools, just as many cars. Women are spending billions of dollars, day in and day out, year in and year out.

But even with all that clout, we won’t be able to use this power of the purse effectively until we achieve true gender equity
worldwide, points that both Ban Li, Deputy Counsel of the Shaanxi Women’s Federation, and Liane Shalatek, Associate Director of the Heinrich Boll Foundation North America, made very powerfully.

 Christine Robertson of Earth Day Network facilitated a provocative panel on the impacts consumption has on our health and the health of the planet. Sarah Vogel of Environmental Defense Fund was peppered with questions after her presentation on the way the toxic chemical Bisphenol-A (BPA) affects the reproductive systems of men and women alike.

Ping He of the International Fund for China’s Environment, the co-sponsor with Big Green Purse of the Forum, moderated the session on barriers to sustainable consumption and solutions that help surmount them. Meaningful eco-labels and standards can make a big difference, pointed out Arthur Weissman, President and CEO of Green Seal, especially when those standards are set by an indendent third party (like Green Seal is) whose primary interest is not in selling products, but in helping manufacturers become more sustainable over time.

LISA JACKSON, Former EPA Administrator

 Lisa Jackson’s luncheon keynote address was the highlight of the day for many people. As a mom, scientist, and long-time public servant, Lisa has a unique appreciation for the impact consumption has on us as individuals and on society as a whole. She spoke movingly about being the first African-American to serve as head of the EPA and how important it is to bring women as well as people of color and low-income populations into the conversations we’re having about pollution and climate change.

Lisa noted that her favorite law is the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act because it empowers people to protect themselves wherever they live. She is also proud of technology EPA has shared with the city of Shanghai to help monitor air pollution there.

Lisa agreed that the way we use both the purse and the pocketbook can inspire manufacturers to reduce pollution and energy consumption.

AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS

In the afternoon, one set of workshops focused on specific campaigns that have been particularly succeessful in reducing consumption. Peggy Neu explained the extraordinary success Meatless Monday has had in inspiring consumers to cut back the amount of meat they eat at least one day every week. Mary Murphy of the Center for a New American Dream explained her work to promote a sharing economy. “The biggest obstacle to sharing is trust,” she said. The more we can build communities of trust, the more sharing will occur.

Meanwhile, Julia Cohen of the Plastic Pollution Coalition moderated a provocative session on how to reduce plastic and re-utilize waste. Stephanie Tobor of Green Apple Supply described her work providing plastic-free alternatives to municipalities and businesses, and Kate Judson of the Washington DC Department of the Environment explained how the region’s plastic bag fee of five cents per bag has helped reduce the use of plastic bags by over 60%. Youlin Zhou of the Heilongjian Province Center for Agricultural Science and Technology describe her work to convert corn waste into animal feed.

At the same time, a third workshop was focusing on strategies to promote energy efficiency and clean energy. Moderated by Nora Maccoby of IFCE, the panel featured Peter Banwell, Product Marketing Director for ENERGY STAR, Gina Mathias of Eco-Beco, a company that offers energy audits for homes and businesses, and Hua Yan, of the Qinghe Spring Biomass Energy Company.

After a short break, a final set of workshops addressed home renovation, food and drink, and cosmetics and personal care products. While the earlier workshops focused on public education campaigns and behavior change, these workshops gave green entrepreneurs a chance to shine. They included Cheryl Newman, the VP for Honest Tea, describing how her company has gone from a dorm-room idea to a product distributed in over 300,000 outlets in the U.S., to Charis Smith of MOMs Organic Market, which sells only organic produce, and to Paul Ward, whose company Advanced Energy Growing, LLC is teaching hydroponic lettuce growing to both American and Chinese farmers. On the cosmetics front, Ashley Prange of Au Naturale Organic Cosmetics and Sarah Damelio of Skincando Body Products took the audience through the trials and tribulations of getting a new natural product off the ground, while Steve Ma, founder of Live Green, offered his insights on building a green consumer movement in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

WRAP-UP

In the final plenary session of the day, Forum attendees took the microphone to offer their suggestions for possible next steps. Ideas ranged from creating a dialogue on Facebook to promoting more information and expertise exchanges. The focus was not on “if” there would be another Forum, but “when” and where. In the days ahead, we’ll be brainstorming ideas for the next steps we could take to help the U.S. and China go from consumer superpower to sustainability superpower. Have any thoughts? Please let us know.

SEE MORE ON TWITTER

If you want to see more play-by-play reports of the Forum, follow our Twitter stream at #USChinaGreenForum.

GREEN SISTERHOOD NETWORK

The Green Sisterhood Network was the Forum’s outstanding media partner, generating blog posts in the network and covering the Forum live (Anna Hackman, a co-founder with Karen Lee of the Network, is seen here taking notes and Tweeting live at the Forum).

You can read Karen’s recap here and a post on the Green Sisterhood Network here.

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First US-China Greener Consumption Forum Recap

Anna@Green Talk: US-China Greener Consumption Forum Aims to Harness the Purse

US-China Greener Consumption Forum: Power of the Purse and Climate Change

5 Reasons to Care about the US-China Greener Consumption Forum

The post US-China Greener Consumption Forum Lays Groundwork for Future Projects Together appeared first on Big Green Purse.

 The U.S. – China Greener Consumption Forum will mark the first-ever gathering of women leaders from the world’s two “consumer super powers” to meet and address the environmental challenges their countries face due to consumption. The Forum, to be held March 22, 2013 at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., will convene leading consumer advocates, green entrepreneurs, scientists and public policy specialists to explore ways to marshal the “power of the purse” to protect the planet.

 Consumer demand is leading to the most rapid use of natural resources, energy, and water that the world has ever seen. The consequences for pollution, impact on climate change, exposure to toxic substances, and waste are equally significant.

This is particularly true in the U.S. and China. In the U.S., women influence at least 80% of all consumer purchases. In China, women contribute about half of all household income and influence and make more than half of all purchasing decisions. If women in both countries can be mobilized to use their power as consumers and as entrepreneurs alike, significant progress can be made in reducing our global carbon footprint while creating a greener, cleaner world.

The Forum will deliver a series of “A Ha!” moments as speakers who are expert in the impacts of consumption on the environment and human health:

·      highlight the need to include gender equity in sustainability strategies

·      review innovative campaigns that achieved significant changes in consumer behavior, including those that have helped reduce consumption

·      showcase companies that have successfully launched new green products in response to consumer demand, and

·      explore opportunities for women to emerge as the entrepreneurial engine behind the global green economy.

REGISTRATION LIMITED; REGISTER TODAY

Registration is free, but limited to only 100 attendees. Please register as soon as possible to secure your place at this important event.

SPONSORS

The International Fund for China’s Environment, Big Green Purse, The Green China Consumption Alliance

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

The Heinrich Boell Foundation North America, UN Women, Chinese Staff Association (World Bank/IMF/IADB), Earth Day Network, Worldwatch Institute, Green America, Plastic Pollution Coalition, All China Women’s Federation, EcoMom Alliance, LOHAS Institute, Greennovate, Ashoka, Chinese Women Activity Center, Helongjiang Women Entrepreneurs Association, Yichun City, Green Seal, DC Eco Women,

MEDIA PARTNERS

Ethical Markets Media

Green Sisterhood Network

Sustainable Brands

For more information or to become a supporting partner, please contact Diane MacEachern at Diane@biggreenpurse.com, 240-533-6384 or YaoChong@ifce.org, 202-822-2141.

The post U.S. – China Greener Consumption Forum to Focus on Consumer “Super Powers” and Strategies to Use Consumer Clout to Protect the Environment appeared first on Big Green Purse.

I am taking the opportunity to reiterate why I created Big Green Purse, a campaign to motivate women especially to channel their spending power into social and environmental change.

It is because I believe…

*  the fastest, most effective way to stop polluters is by pressuring them in the marketplace

*  women can be the world’s most powerful economic and environmental force if we intentionally shift our spending to the best green products and services

* women have the power right now to solve many of our most serious environmental problems by using our green purses to make a difference

* women must act – intentionally, collectively, and with the full force of our purse power behind us – if we hope to leave our children and grandchildren a better world.

Women spend $.85 of every dollar in the marketplace. I believe we should tell manufacturers what to make; they should not be telling us what to buy.

I believe we only have as much power as we exercise. I also believe exercising our power gives us more.

I believe it is not too late … but it will be soon.

As the saying goes, if not us, who? If not now, when?

I believe it is up to us, and we must act now.

See what more green moms and friends believe on Monday, February, 9, when The Smart Mama hosts the next Green Moms Carnival.

The post Why I Believe in the Power of the Purse appeared first on Big Green Purse.

This “One in a Million” grandmother of two has found that shifting her spending to products and services that offer the greatest environmental benefit actually saves her money – especially when it comes to energy.

The One in a Million campaign inspires consumers to shift at least $1,000 of their existing household budgets to greener goods. The idea isn’t to spend more money, just to make “green” a priority when you do shop. In many cases, the new purchases are not only better for the planet. They’re great for your pocketbook, too.

Here’s how Sue shifted her spending:

04/’07:  Bought an ’07 Honda Civic                     $17,500
04/’07  Bought a front loading washer                 $  1,000
’06 thru ’08:  cfl bulbs, 50                                  $     200
01/’07:  Installed water htr blanket                      $      20
01/’08:  Put up weather stripping                        $      10
01/’08:  Hung 8 pr. thermal drapes                      $    500
05/’08:  Bamboo flooring in bathroom                  $    400

Total:                                                              $19,130

Sue says she’s “pretty much a typical 60ish woman” with three grown children, two grown step-children, and seven grandchildren. Retired, she sews, does some crafting, reads and gardens. When I asked Sue what inspired her, here’s what she said.

“The green thing?  It really began for me in the 70’s when we planted our first garden.  I started getting “Organic Gardening” and that got me even more interested.  Then there were a number of years when I really let stuff slide.  I was divorced in 1979, with two kids, and working for the first time in my life. 

I’ve gotten more interested and active in our environment over the years since I had to retire.  It began with supporting various charities that espouse what I think is important.  I’ve browbeaten most of my family about it.  My mother, who lives with my older sister, began recycling about 3 months ago.  Same deal with my daughter and her family.  My husband has been hard to persuade, too, and I frequently go through the “trash” can in the kitchen to fish out stuff that goes in the recycle can.  But, we’re getting there.  In the last few years, I’ve even convinced him to give up the 10-10-10 fertilizer we’d been using on the garden.  We’ve gone organic with that, as well as using Neem oil for the bad bugs instead of Sevin spray.

The hardest part for me has been to actually DO it instead of just bitching about how Earth is changing, and placing blame with politicos and big business and the oil companies.  Oh, they are culprits, but so am I.  The easiest was the cfl bulbs.  That’s something that anyone can do.  Do it one at the time or one room at the time.  By the way, my monthly budget electric bill has come down from $152 to $116.  That’s over $400 a year.  For some people, that’s the final shot in the arm.  That money thing will get people nearly every time.

I know I can’t do much, but I truly believe if everyone would do just ONE thing, the world we live in would get better pdq! 

P.S.  I’ve gotten my two four & 1/2 year old granddaughters each a copy of “Michael Recycle” for Christmas this year.”

If Sue can do it, so can you! Shifting your spending not only saves you money – it gives manufacturers an incentive to reduce pollution, keep air and water clean, and protect our world for our kids and grandkids. Why don’t you join us today? It couldn’t be easier!

Meet more One in a Million women.

The post GrandMa Shifts Almost $20,000 to Green Goods; Saves $400/yr just on lighting appeared first on Big Green Purse.

These are good habits to develop, even if many of us have been forced into them. But what will happen when the financial crisis eases (which it eventually will) and we start to feel money jiggling in our pockets again? It could be tempting to forgo our new behavior patterns and rush out to buy SUVs, the newest electronic gadget, and more clothes than we can possibly wear. That would be a shame. If the financial meltdown has taught us anything, it should be that the way we spend our money matters. When we have dollars to dole out again, we should do so not only to meet our material needs, but to bolster the green economy, too.

The post When You Start Spending Money Again, Make a Difference: Choose Green Products and Services appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Demand it, of course.

It’s a strategy that makes perfect sense, given that companies themselves say consumers are the biggest drivers of the sustainability changes they’re willing to make. In a recent study conducted by Ernst & Young and reported on by Mary Hunt at In Women We Trust, executives from the finance, consumer goods and manufacturing industries acknowledged that consumer demand was a far greener “carrot” than environmental regulation, legislation, or competition, among other factors.

Readers of Big Green Purse won’t be surprised. Our mantra is all about ways you can make your money matter to protect yourself and the planet. But it’s great when the very targets of our spending decisions acknowledge how much power we really have!

The post What’s Convincing Companies to Go Green? Consumer Demand. appeared first on Big Green Purse.

The original marketplace campaigns revolved around boycotts (think Cesar Chavez, farmworkers, and grapes) — an effective “stick” if there ever was one, considering the whipping grape growers needed to take before they were willing to treat their employees fairly.

  Big Green Purse has been more focused on a “carrot” approach. Too get product manufacturers to reduce pollution and limit their contribution to global warming, Big Green Purse encourages consumers to favor the products that offer the greatest environmental benefit (think compact fluorescent bulbs over incandescents, or organic food over conventionally grown fruits and vegetables). The rationale? Consumers can strategically use the money they spend on eco goods and services to create incentives for companies to produce even more eco options. Though there’s been virtually no forward environmental motion in the legislative arena over the past decade, the marketplace has been greening like gangbusters. Consumers — especially women, who spend $.85 of every dollar – can accelerate the trend by being even more intentional about the products they buy. Choosing goods that are certified sustainable (like lumber made from FSC-certified wood, or tile made from SMaRT-certified linoleum) sends an even bigger, louder message to companies that there is more money to be made in going green.

(This idea has gained so much traction, it’s got its own conferences. Sustainable Brands ’08 just concluded – read an excellent summary by Mary Hunt over at In Women We Trust.)

Another way to dangle the “carrot” is to persuade retailers that their entire business — not just sales of one or two products — will increase if they transition to a more environmentally responsible operation. CarrotMob has proven that this approach can be pretty tasty to shop keepers. The organization queried several liquor stores in San Francisco about their interest in saving energy. The one that vowed to save the most – 22% – received not only CarrotMob’s blessing, but the benefit of an organizing campaign that increased store sales more than three-fold — on just one day! Customers could buy whatever they wanted; the store donated 22% of its sales to energy-saving measures that would reduce its own healing and cooling costs, among other benefits.

As legislators increasingly fall prey to polluting political action committees, or the confounding complexity of dealing with so many different party leaders, it’s increasingly apparent that real environmental change can and must be driven by the marketplace. And what makes the marketplace so powerful? All of us green consumers — and the “carrots” we’re dangling.

The post Carrots and Sticks are Greening the Marketplace appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Simply what Kat does at her company, Portland Store Fixtures, could qualify her for star status in the Big Green Purse “One in a Million” campaign, our effort to engage a million women in shifting $1,000 of their household budget to more eco-friendly options. Portland Store Fixtures sells new and used fixtures for anyone interested in running a retail establishment. The company’s mantra is:

“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Give those “experienced” fixtures a chance to shine.”

Kat and her partner Penney are always on the look-out for gently worn display cases, fabrics, and even mannequins that another proprietor can put to good re-use. Since 1998, they’ve helped hundreds of stores get up and running, often by using recycled materials.

To keep her staff of seven fueled, Kat has organized a weekly organic food delivery to the office. “We signed on with a company called SPUD that efficiently delivers food and allows us to pick what foods we will receive every week.  We pick organic, locally grown fruit and vegetables because it keeps the dollar local and out of the gas tank.”

Plus, says Kat, “We shop organically and have done so for the last two years.  We also buy (personally and for the business) non-toxic cleaners, recycled products and reuse everything!  We sell used store fixtures so we really take the “reuse” part seriously.  Our invoices, letters and faxes are all on already printed on one side paper.  And then we will use them for scrap paper!”

Kat estimates she’s shifted $28 per week for the local organic food delivery, and $200 per week for more eco-friendly grocery and cleaning products.

But the purchase that really propelled her into the “One in a Million” pantheon?

She recently bought a $22,000 Prius, the gas-saving hybrid car that can get as much as 50 miles out of every gallon of gas.

Thumbs up, Kat! You’re really One in a Million!

The post Organic Food, Prius Help Businesswoman Become “One in a Million” appeared first on Big Green Purse.