On a household scale, here’s how paying electronically pans out.  Stuart Williams, of CheckFree/Fiserv and a member of the PayItGreen Alliance, says that the average U.S. household receives 19 bills and statements each month, and makes seven payments with checks each month.  If just 20 percent of American households switched to electronic statements and payments, it would save 150 million pounds of paper and avoid producing 3.9 billion pounds of greenhouse gases.

So why aren’t people switching over?  Williams says it’s mostly because people are entrenched in their habits.  But by breaking away from routine and switching over to electronic statements, each year the average American household would

·         Save 6.6 pounds of paper.

·         Save .08 trees.

·         Prevent 63 gallons of wastewater from entering the environment.

·         Save the 4.5 gallons of gasoline needed to transport bills, statements, and payments via mail service.

·         Prevent 171 pounds of greenhouse gases from being produced, which is equivalent to:  1) Preserving 24 square feet of forest from deforestation; 2) Not consuming 8.8 gallons of gasoline; 3) Planting two tree seedlings and allowing them to grow for 10 years; and 4) Not driving 169 miles.