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Archive for June, 2010
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
This guest post from Aldra is part of ShoreBank’s new 5th Tuesday ShoreBank Fan post series. Aldra is a grant writer who found her way into the non-profit sector via her membership with AmeriCorps VISTA. With more than 10 years in the non-profit industry, she learned the fine art of living a good life with a small salary and a commitment to social justice. She is the author of Consciously Frugal and a ShoreBank Facebook Fan.
Although personal finance books are quite popular, few have garnered the notoriety enjoyed by Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin (later editions include author Monique Tilford). Even though Your Money or Your Life was first published nearly 20 years ago, you can still find a study group in virtually every city working the book’s holistic, nine-step program.
The program asks participants to base their earning, saving and spending patterns on their core values. My core values are simple. I believe that my purpose on this spinning blue ball is to ensure that all people have the right to health, safety, security, and happiness. If I truly believe that, then I must pay attention to the how and who of the products that I purchase (Is it sourced from sustainable practices? Are the workers fairly treated and compensated?). It eventually dawned on me that this sort of thinking should extend to all my fiscal activities, not just when I buy stuff. But in a culture devoted to upward mobility and the material trappings of “success,” reorienting our financial lives to an internal compass is a radical concept.
As I began to align my finances with my values, I investigated the world of banking. What was my monolithic bank doing with all those billions of dollars? Who was benefiting from my deposits and the interest I paid on loans? To whom did they market their credit cards?
I didn’t like much of what I found. I discovered that I was putting my money into a system that seemed to disempower and exploit people. I knew that there had to be a better way. The primary thing I wanted to see in a financial institution was an active engagement in bettering the community. I also wanted to see a measure of respect for clients, regardless of income levels or portfolio dollars. Community reinvestment is a concrete example of that respect.
After spending a few months hunting for a bank that invested in communities, I found ShoreBank. Through ShoreBank Direct’s online savings account, I am earning interest on my savings far above that being offered by my previous bank while knowing that my money is also being put to good use.
However, what I have most enjoyed about transitioning to a community development financial institution is the human connection. Through blogs, email correspondence, and Facebook interactions, I have been able to engage with staff and fellow ShoreBank customers, and discuss political, environmental and social issues important to us all. It gives me hope that amidst all the economic doom and gloom of late, we can find ways to create a values-based economy in which all of us are respected and empowered.
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Tags: community development, move your money, ShoreBank Direct, socially responsible investing, your money or your life
Posted in Outreach | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
“An invitation to a wedding invokes more trouble than a summons to a police court” – in terms of the environment, that is. No matter how eco-friendly my friends and family’s weddings, if I, as a wedding guest, do not take eco-and monetarily conscious steps when attending nuptials, my actions can add to the footprint of even the most eco-friendly planned wedding. How?
1. Wedding guests spend an average of $500 dollars to attend a wedding.
2. The average wedding emits 63 tons of CO2.[1] Who is the biggest contributor to that CO2 emission? Friends and family!
3. Using this calculator I calculated that the 2 weddings I am attending this year will generate 2,895 lbs of CO2 and cost me $1,000.
I do believe we can make our own green wedding attendance plans. Here is a breakdown of where I think I can do to save green and be an eco-friendly guest this wedding season:
Travel Green. As my colleague Karen said in this blog post, look at three different factors when making travel arrangements: how far you are going, what is your vehicle, and, how many people are traveling with you? “If your party has two people and you are traveling 1,000 miles then flying economy beats out driving – the flight creates 835 pounds of CO2 while driving would create 1,125 pounds of CO2.” You might then also consider purchasing the appropriate quantity of carbon offsets ($17.85 will offset my 2,895 lbs of CO2). - Dress Green. Throw caution to the wind and dare to wear something from your current closet, even if other guests have previously seen it. A classic almost always works. (Not to mention the $200 savings you can pocket).
- Stay Green. Share rooms, reduce electricity and air conditioning use, and request your towels to be washed every other day. You can save 1.3 gallons of water daily per room (and even more if you share!)[2]
- Give Green. Make and give an eco-friendly gift. Not only will this reduce your financial and environmental expenditure, but giving an off-registry homemade gift can have greater positive meaning for the newlyweds. (Not crafty? Cash is also a perfectly acceptable green gift.)
- Eat Green. Ask for the vegetarian or the fish option – even if you like meat. In my experience, the veggie option is often prepared individually and tastes better than its companion meat dish. Some research also implies that producing a calorie of meat protein means burning more than ten times as much fossil fuel, and spewing more than ten times as much heat-trapping carbon dioxide, as does a calorie of plant protein.[3]
- Drink Green. Request locally produced beverages on draft, wherever possible. Not only do you minimize packaging and travel, but drinking locally can also provide you with a better cultural flavor of the wedding location.
I believe that everybody, not just the wedding planners, can do their part to generate a greener wedding. Here’s to a happy (green) wedding season.
[1] http://www.examiner.com/x-11943-SF-Green-Weddings-Examiner~y2010m3d31-The-environmental-impact-of-weddings-and-how-to-really-calculate-your-weddings-carbon-footprint
[2] http://www.economicallysound.com/towelsheet_reuse_program_savings.html
[3] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathy-freston/vegetarian-is-the-new-pri_b_39014.html
Tags: environmental sustainability, green banking, green transportation, green weddings
Posted in Outreach | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, June 15th, 2010
What would the world be like if we all lived in communities where everyone had access to healthy foods, quality education, and a safe environment? It is easier than you might think. I believe that world can come true in one particular moment or event, such as the World Cup.
Who watched the England vs. United States World Cup match on Saturday? Where did you watch it? Did you watch it with friends, neighbors, and strangers? And who did you high five when the U.S. scored? Although it may not have been the most beautiful goal, did you still high five anybody who you could reach? I did! Sporting events have this amazing ability to bring us together. The rush that comes from knowing other people from around the world simultaneously have their eyes glued to the same match creates an amazing sense of international camaraderie. It’s a sense that compels you to want to accomplish virtually anything with those people. And that sense has enormous power and potential to make inroads towards working together on a myriad of issues.
How can we translate these effects into similar events to unite our communities? Here are a few lessons that I derived from the watching World Cup and from participating in the Chicago Black Hawks’ Stanley Cup victory celebration that I think can help us to “World Cup-ize” our own community process:
- The event needs multiple or incremental phases, like first and second round playoffs. Yes, of course, I wish it were easy, but the more matches we face in the playoffs, the more we bond as fans and the greater our thirst for victory.
- This event must make us feel like we are a part of something that is bigger than ourselves. We then become proud of the Ghana Soccer Team’s first World Cup victory for an African nation on African soil rather than of us as individuals.
- It needs to be something that a) many have a vested interest in b) that all people feel and are welcome to attend, but c) that will not negatively harm anybody’s person or human rights. In the U.S., all are welcome to attend and cheer for sports games, but the outcome of the game will not negatively impact the opponents’ human rights (even though it may hurt their feelings).
- We should initially gain an unconditional reward. The team’s accomplishment may not happen again or it might lose next year, so the reward is the ability to reap, enjoy, and savor the moment with friends and family.
- We need some magic – the successful game-winning “Hail Mary” pass, the overtime Black Hawks goal, or the Paraguay beautiful shot. “Magic” provides safe excitement and the belief that the “impossible” is possible.
These events, whether they are far away in South Africa, at Chicago’s United Center, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, or in our own backyards, have the opportunity to bring more people to together in a common spirit and purpose to create a stronger more vibrant community where people will want to live, work, and to play.
But we need more! What else can we, as Americans, do to create our own community World Cup?
Tags: community development, world cup
Posted in Outreach | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Raise your hand if you spent your adolescent summers doing household chores, attending camps, or volunteering? Do you still summer like that? I don’t. After years of Girl Scouts service projects, band camp attendance, and hours of daily household chores, I now do little more in the summer than pack organic picnic baskets and attend free concerts in the park. But what if I put the baskets away and actually created a to-do list similar to the one I had as a youth, only with a triple bottom line goal instead? What impact could I make with these summer 2010 triple bottom line to-dos?:
Financial:
- “Green” clean my finances. I am going to sign up for as many autopilot online and paperless banking products as I can.
- “Green” my budget. I need to revamp my food, housing, and entertainment budgets for the appropriate amount of organic product, air conditioning (or in my case – a lack there of), and travel expenditures.
- Re-evaluate my 401(K) to participate in socially responsible investments. I did evaluate my 401(K) as promised in my 2010 resolutions; however, I want to verify that my portfolio has not modified in whom it invests and re-adjust my investments accordingly.
- Go 2 weekends without drinking non-water beverage and donate the savings. According to MSN Money, Americans spend more on beer from Memorial Day through Labor Day than at any other time of the year. There is more than one nonprofit that can use my donation.
Community:
- Meet My Neighbors. Not only does it improve community cohesion, but it also increases my safety, as neighbors you know are more likely to alert you if there is suspicious behavior around your neighborhood.
- Support local businesses at street festivals. Street festivals can really provide an economic impact for a community.
- Volunteer for at least 4 hours per month. Volunteers reduce organizational cost while helping to improve the community. And when a community is doing well as a whole, its individuals are better off, too.
Environment:
- Pick up litter for at least one hour. According to Every Monday Matters, if every person picked up one piece of litter today, there would be over 300 million fewer pieces of litter.
- Invest in a urban window garden. I still haven’t completed this resolution! But I think I have added another 3,000 pounds of CO2 from flying this year. It is time.
- Eco-shred all of my hoarded paper. I don’t know how paper adds up, but somehow, all of a sudden, I have stacks of unsolicited credit card offers and napkins everywhere!
Think about the impact that I alone can make with this triple bottom line to-do list! Help me stay on track and join me in becoming a triple bottom line summer activist. The “What does ‘Green’ mean to me?” Facebook photo contest runners up have already gotten on board! Who else is with me?
“What does ‘Green’ mean to me” Facebook Contest Runners Up Photos:
Tags: community development, green banking, socially responsible investing, triple bottom line
Posted in Outreach | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
“For now we see through a glass, darkly;” — 1 Corinthians 13
In recent years, financial transparency has become a fetish. Demands for more detailed disclosure, along with the regulations to back it up, are constant and invariably defended on the grounds of providing more transparency.
Here is a statement issued last week by the Chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, Robert Herz: “The proposal would impact the reporting by financial institutions and all other entities that have financial instruments as the goal of greater transparency in financial statements is pursued.” The Board, known as Faz-Bee, determines the rules of accounting. The proposal to which Mr Herz refers would require banks to record loans at “fair value” along with the current method of “historical cost.”
Before we get too lost in accounting jargon, let’s take an example. Say a bank makes you a $150,000 30-year mortgage at an interest rate of 5%. Under current accounting rules, the bank carries your mortgage on its books at its current principal balance as long as you keep paying. But what if, at some point in the life of the loan, rates for new mortgages rise to 8%. If the bank were required to report its loans at “fair value,” it would have to write down the value of your loan, even though you kept paying. You may say, “So what? That doesn’t change my loan.” True enough, but the prospect of having to record such a loss in the future, could very well influence the kind of mortgage the bank would be willing to make in the first place. Perhaps it would demand a higher rate, periodic rate adjustments, or a shorter term. Almost certainly, you would end up with a more expensive and less predictable mortgage. Achieving “the goal of greater transparency” might not be such an unmixed blessing after all.
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Tags: economic predictors, financial accounting, financial transparency
Posted in Banking Industry | 4 Comments »
