Two Sides warns big banks: stop the greenwashing

Australia's leading financial institutions have been notified by letter that it is wrong to encourage clients to switch to electronic billing for environmental reasons.

The open letter said any link "between reducing the use of paper and helping the environment" was "unsupported by facts" and a violation of Australian Competition & Consumer Commission regulations.

[Opinion: It's time to choose sides]

"It is certainly not proven that electronic communications provides a lower carbon footprint," said the letter.

"Electronic document storage may be recognised as delivering efficiency but not sustainability.

"On average it takes 500kwh of electricity to produce 200kg of paper, the average amount of paper each of us consume each year. This is equivalent to powering one computer continuously for five months.

"The term 'paperless' is also disingenuous. An online search emits 0.7g of CO2 every search made whereas a business card emits less than 0.12g of CO2 over the card’s entire lifetime."

Two Sides' national manager, Kellie Northwood, said the print industry was the victim of an increasing trend by big corporations to link e-commerce initiatives with false environmental claims.

"As consumers we are constantly being told to change our behaviours, go online, opt for e-statements to be better for the environment. These claims are grossly misleading," said Northwood.

"If the major Australian financial institutions want to encourage customers to switch to e-billing because it is more cost-effective, then we have no quarrel with that.

"However, we do ask the major banks and credit unions to stop making a false link between reducing the use of paper and helping the environment, unless they have verifiable proof that this is so."

[Related: More news about Two Sides]

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7 thoughts on “Two Sides warns big banks: stop the greenwashing

  1. could not agree more — I’ve just updated the following into my email signature ( got the idea from Print media Centr) and got the stats from the Two Sides Aus website —

    There is no need to be concerned about printing this e-mail. Paper is renewable and recyclable. Of the wood extracted from the world’s forests, 53% is used for energy production, 28% is used by sawmills and only around 11% is used directly by the paper industry.

    We should all play our part in educating people outside the industry

  2. What is also disingenuous is ignoring the full end-to-end supply chain associated with paper statements (and other print products). There is significant footprint in many elements of this outside of paper and print production. Absolutely applaud the Two Sides initiative but the danger is if a case is to be argued then it must be done with rigour otherwise it begins to sound like the Clubs industry defending pokies.

  3. This portrayal raises a number of questions from all sides. At one extreme, you have financial institutions supposedly vouching for environmental considerations in the guise of reducing their procurement expenses. At the other extreme, you have an industry beset by technological change that needs to adapt to change. Somewhere in the middle lies the truth.

    Calculating the carbon position on any product is difficult at best and in this circumstance unless you across PAS 2050 (with carbon and supply chain analysts involved) the ‘real tangible results’ will be difficult to determine. This becomes even more convoluted in considering the mailing aspect of the printed statement?

    Enter the stakeholders which are both government and NGO’s. The large financial institutions may warrant a lesson in Environmental Management Accounting (Procedures and Principles) from the United Nations? To join the crusade is commendable – but make sure the agenda is credible.

  4. The question of which environmental footprint is less, paper or pixels, can be a vexed one. Fuji Xerox Australia looked into existing research on this topic and identified a relatively robust piece of LCA research from Sweden that illustrated the carbon footprint difference between these channels is not as great as you might expect. However we also found that the number of variables and data requirements involved in this type of study make meaningful analysis a very complex matter, and repeatability in different scenarios highly challenging.

    It might be that some large organisations are being asked to do the almost impossible – calculate the environmental impacts of digitisation before making any marketing claims with customers. The practical difficulty in quantifying the carbon footprint of digitised document processes (both before and after) makes this an onerous task.

    Instead of getting tied up in data knots, we recommend that every choice in document process optimisation be a sustainable one. So for example, those responsible for these matters inside large organisations should use standards for energy efficiency in data centers, choose carbon neutral paper stocks, use every communication vehicle for maximum effect (eg trans-promo billing), and discourage customers from printing online statements as it only multiples the footprint. Paper v pixels is not an either or debate; it’s about making every document process environmentally responsible, and designing communications that are relevant for the audience and effective in achieving the desired outcomes.

    Amanda Keogh, Head of Sustainability, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific

    1. Hi Amanda, thank you for your post. If you are referring to IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute Ltd, their research is comprehensive and supported by a number of tools and global business associations. If not, could you please post the organisation / research Or send an email (to info@infoprojektconsulting.com.au). I value your feedback.

      Stephen Mears, Management Consultant

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