Get The Facts
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Review Frequently Asked Questions about PayItGreen
PayItGreen is a simple, safe, and smart way to have a positive impact on the
environment!
By switching to electronic bills, statements, and payments, every year the average
household can:
• Save 6.6 pounds of paper
• Save 0.079 trees
• Avoid use of 4.5 gallons of gasoline to mail bills, statements, and payments
• Avoid release of 63 gallons of wastewater into the environment
• Avoid producing 171 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions
Saving this amount of greenhouse gas emissions is the equivalent of:
• The emissions avoided by not driving 169 miles
• The emissions avoided by not consuming 8.8 gallons of gasoline
• Planting 2 tree seedlings and allowing them to grow for 10 years
• Preserving 24 square feet of forestland
With many households participating, these small contributions can add up to
a big benefit for the environment.
If 20 percent of households (22,876,800 households) were to switch to electronic
bills, statements, and payments, every year the collective impact would:1
• Save 150,939,615 pounds of paper
• Save 1,811,275 trees
• Avoid creating 1,439,601,370 gallons of wastewater
• Avoid creating enough wastewater to fill 2,180 Olympic-size swimming pools
• Avoid filling 8,597,328 household garbage bags with waste
• Avoid filling 6,141 garbage trucks with waste
• Avoid using 102,945,600 gallons of gasoline to mail bills, statements and payments
• Avoid producing 3,920,802,916 pounds (1,960,402 tons) of greenhouse gas emissions
Saving this amount of greenhouse gas emissions is the equivalent of:
• The emissions avoided by not driving 3,861,769,517 miles
• Taking 325,722 cars off the road
• The emissions avoided by not consuming 200 million gallons of gasoline
• Planting 45.6 million tree seedlings and allowing them to grow for 10 years
• Preserving 12,405 acres of forestland
And there are big benefits for you, too!
Reduce clutter.
The average household receives approximately 19 bills and statements and makes approximately
7 payments in paper form monthly.
Save time and money.
The average consumer saves 2.5 minutes per bill when paying electronically instead
of with a check3. The cost of postage and check stock can add up to more than $100
per year; these costs can be saved by making payments electronically, instead of
by paper check. Also, credit scores are significantly increased when a consumer
receives payments by Direct Deposit and uses Direct Payment to pay recurring monthly
bills and/or save and invest automatically.
Improve security.
Consumers receiving electronic bills and statements and making payments electronically
can maintain tighter control over accounts in real time. Almost 85 percent of identity
theft cases are due to "offline" transactions such as lost checkbooks
and stolen bills, statements, and check payments4.
Frequently asked questions about PayItGreen
1. Project Performance Corp for the PayItGreen Alliance, 2008 | Sources:
• Environmental impact estimates associated with paper reductions were made using
the Environmental Defense Paper Calculator. For more information visit
http://www.papercalculator.org.
• Greenhouse gas emissions estimates associated with transportation of paper bills
and payments were made using the World Resources Institute (WRI) Mobile Combustion
CO2 Emissions Calculation Tool. For more information visit
http://www.ghgprotocol.org/calculation-tools/service-sector.
• Greenhouse gas emissions equivalency estimates were made using the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator. For more information
visit http://www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html.
• Statistics defining the number of paper bills, bill payments, and statements mailed
in 2006 were provided by: "The Household Diary Study: Mail Use & Attitudes
in FY 2006." United States Postal Service (Washington, DC: March 2007). For
more information visit http://www.usps.com/householddiary/welcome.htm