The survey, whose results were vetted by the Environmental Protection Agency, said it would also mean avoiding the deforestation of 24 square feet of forest, the release of 63 gallons of wastewater into the environment, and save 4.5 gallons of gasoline used for mailing.
“Individuals who think they are only one person and can’t really have an impact should re-evaluate their position. Even small contributions can have a impact when aggregated,” said Craig Vaream, a member of the PayItGreen Alliance and JPMorgan Chase.
JPMorgan Chase is one of about 16 members of the alliance which is made up of financial services companies and also includes Bank of America and the Federal Reserve Banks.
The alliance is lead by NACHA, the non-profit electronics payment association, that represents more than 11,000 financial institutions who are encouraging customers to conduct more transactions online.
The group was set up in 2007 to promote the positive environmental impact of choosing electronic payments, bills, and statements instead of paper.
It found that Americans each year mail 26 billion bills and statements and 9 billion payments in paper form with the related production and transportation consuming 755 million pounds of paper, 9 million trees, and 512 million gallons of gasoline.
The survey found that if 10 per cent of US households, or about 11.4 million households, gave up paper bills and statements the results would be significant.
It would save 75,469,808 pounds of paper, 905,638 trees, avoid producing 1.96 million pounds of greenhouse gases which was the equivalent of taking 162,861 cars off the road.
It would also preserve 6,202 acres of forest from deforestation, avoid creating 719,800,685...
