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.

We-Care.com lets you do just that. Its “click through” website gives you access to more than 600 online merchants you can shop as you normally would. But when you buy, a percentage of the purchase price is automatically donated to the charity you choose. Merchants include retail, travel, financial services, and  more. Book your flight and hotel. Rent a car. Shop for books. Buy furniture and household items. Subscribe to magazines, newspapers, DVD services, and even satellite TV. The sky is (almost) the limit. Participation costs nothing for organizations; there’s no extra charge to you, either. Many merchants also offer special money-saving deals and coupons.

There are over 325 charities to choose from, including public health, animal welfare, women’s advocacy, k-12 education programs, peace and justice, arts, culture and more. In the environment category, you can contribute to such organizations as Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Environmental Working Group, and the Center for a New American Dream.  If you don’t see the cause you support, it’s easy to add it to the database. You can also contact your cause and encourage them to join We-Care.com..

GoodShop.com is another online shopping mall that donates a percentage of each purchase  to the charity of your choice. Its 800 retailers range from Amazon to Zappos. Like We-Care, you’ll find coupons and deals that make shopping more affordable. Look for anything from baby and maternity products to computer hardware and electronics. Browse earth-friendly outlets like Organic Style, Viva Terra, Only Natural Pet Store, Organic Bouquet, Gaiam and Patagonia. Currently, more than 69,000 organizations earn money from the sites. If your favorite charity is missing, it’s easy to add it to the list.

Another good bet: if you want to donate to protect the environment but don’t know where to start, give a gift to EarthShare. I’ve been a fan of this organization for almost 20 years, and I completely vouch for them.

As they say on their site, “EarthShare’s member groups represent the most respected and responsible environmental and conservation organizations in the country. Our groups work locally, nationally and internationally to protect and preserve human health and all aspects of our environment. EarthShare also protects its donors by ensuring that each of its member groups adheres to strict eligibility criteria, and operates with the highest possible ethical and professional standards.”

For more options, check with the Nonprofit Matrix or at Yahoo’s Virtual Charity and Fundraising Malls.

The post Give to Your Favorite Charity During the Holidays or Whenever You Shop – At No Extra Cost to You appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Fortunately, both my freshman and my junior know they have to make a pretty good case for “new” when they’re talking to me.

“Go shopping in your closet first,” I told them. “Look around your room. Then make a list of what you actually need.”

(I tried not to mention the same refrain they’ve heard over and over again: “In my day, I packed one suitcase and a manual typewriter, headed off to campus, and did just fine.”)

My daughter emerged from her room with a pile of gently worn clothes that she eventually took to Mustard Seed, our local thrift store, and exchanged for “new” (to her) sweaters and skirts. She seemed content to pack up the boots and shoes she already wears. We agreed that she needed new bedding to fit the extra-long twin mattress she’d be sleeping on at school, plus fluffy pillows and a fresh comforter to make her dorm room cozy.  In place of a new laptop, she got a new laptop case. I couldn’t begrudge her a few picture frames (though something tells me my smiling face won’t grace them). And she has no choice but to bring her own desk lamp, hangers, and even rugs, since the university doesn’t furnish them. I’m insisting she take a reusable water bottle and her floor length robe (yes, it’s a co-ed dorm…enough said?). She and her roommate have agreed to share a refrigerator and microwave, both of which they can rent from student services. I refused to buy her a tv, and she opted to save her own money rather than spend it on more electronics. “Besides,” she noted practically, “we don’t get cable.”

As I look at the stuff she’s been setting aside, I’m satisfied to see that the pile is relatively small. By inventorying what she already has, sharing what she can, realizing she has most of what she needs, and buying just a couple of things to fill the gaps, she’s heading to college feeling confident about the comfy cocoon she’ll be able to create for herself. Meanwhile, I don’t worry that we’ve either broken the bank or left a horrible carbon footprint in our wake.

My son also managed to get a grip on his “needs.” He finally concluded that while his computer hard drive was irreparably fried, his “old” printer and monitor could easily last another year. We happily bought him a new pair of tennis shoes, which he will wear until, like the last pair, he completely wears them out. He will reuse the furnishings he acquired when he first headed to college a couple of years ago, including a fabulous travel mug from Hudson Trail Outfitters that keeps coffee hot for a solid two hours. His book bag is still in good shape, as is his calculator, so no additional purchases there. He did get a new electric razor, having somehow lost his other one half-way through the summer, but no complaints from me on that score. “With the electric, I won’t have to throw away all those disposables or use shaving cream,” he argued. Music to my ears.

Their personal gear under control, we turned our attention to the practical. They still needed supplies like paper, pencils, pens and binders, as well as shampoo and soap. Trips to Staples and Target were equally frustrating. The only available pencils were made by Ticonderoga, a company that recently received an “F” from Forest Ethics for the clearcutting it practices in California’s Sierra Nevada forests. There was no recycled notebook paper to be seen.

Fortunately, I can mail order sustainably certified #2 pencils from Forest Choice and pens (left) made from sustainable wood scraps from The Green Office. I’ll call Greenline Paper for that recycled item. We’re stuck with PVC plastic binders; I’ve seen some options made from recycled cardboard, but didn’t think they would stand up to the drubbing they’d take given my students’ rough-and-tumble lives. Besides, the kids really didn’t like them.

As for personal care products, both kids are particular about what they put on their bodies. My daughter tends towards Burt’s Bees, which she’ll be able to find as easily on campus as here at home. My son, true to his gender, uses very little beyond basic bar soap and (Tom’s) toothpaste. Plus, he avoids any product containing anti-bacterial agents.

I couldn’t send either child off without an energy-conservation care kit: energy-saving power strips for all their electronics, a four-pack of mini compact fluorescent light bulbs they’re welcome to share with roommates (and bring home at the end of the year), and umbrellas so they can walk even when it rains.

“But, Mom,” my daughter wondered, “What about the cookies?”

Oops. Better break out the organic sugar and flour for those.

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