Giving to charity, while highly recommended, does not make you an activist. It makes you a charity donor. Great in its own right, but move your bank account and then you’re edging into activist territory. As motivation, read a new report from Christian Aid that unpicks the global banking industry, zeroing in on the Big Four, which hold almost all of our money. What emerges is a picture of a system rife with dysfunction.
Despite the falling costs for renewables and their increasingly swift take-up, your money, via private banks, still primarily bankrolls fossil fuels. If this continues, by 2050 the global economy will have invested $23tn into fossil fuels, sinking the targets of the globally agreed Paris Agreement, our best hope of avoiding catastrophic climate change.
In June, Triodos Bank, known for ethical lending, rolled out its first UK personal current account. This gives us the chance to bank with an organisation actively involved in creating a sustainable global future, as opposed to funding the apocalypse.
Alongside a sustainable bank card made from corn-based “natural plastic”, this account offers full transparency. This is important because asking where your money goes after you’ve deposited it is key. It’s not just about banks avoiding destructive industries, but also actively investing in new capacity for say, organic farming and renewable energy.
Neither is this a current account only for those who are idealistically green. The chorus of those warning that big banks have their heads in the sands includes major investment analysts who nobody could accuse of treehugging. They warn that the smart money is financing renewables, not oil. I’m guessing you want your hard-earned cash to flow in the same direction.
The big picture: secrets of the deep
Professor Janet Mann is an expert in the social networks of cetacean societies. Her new book, Deep Thinkers: An Exploration of Intelligence in Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises, published by the Ivy Press, £20, explores just that: self-recognition, complex songs, intricate social networks, and cetaceans’ ability to relate to humans. She also takes a deep dive into the environmental impact we are having on them.
Well dressed: ethical music to your ears
Big headphones, worn without apology, may be a fashion trend at the moment, but they’ve also contributed to yet more heavily plasticised branded imports, and the usual waste. But these super-sustainable cans from the House of Marley, the foundation run by the Marley Family in memory of Bob, provide a serious ethical alternative. All House of Marley products are manufactured using the lowest-impact and most sustainable materials, including REWIND fabric from reclaimed hemp and water bottles, organic cotton and FSC certified wood. And a percentage of the money coming in from each pair sold goes to One Tree Planted, a non-profit organisation that works in global reforestation, planting trees in North and South America, Asia and Africa.
Email Lucy at lucy.siegle@observer.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @lucysiegle
