Resisters Refuse to Pay for War and Its Environmental Fallout Like most working Americans, Connecticut resident Rosa Packard files her taxes every spring. But since 1981, she has omitted one thing: the check. Instead she substitutes a letter to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) explaining that, as a Quaker, an environmentalist and a conscientious objector, […]
Picking the Greenest Funds Choosing the right mutual fund isn’t as easy as looking at a chart and writing a check to the firm with the highest numbers. Everyone wants a winner, but it’s important to remember that performance numbers don’t tell the full story—even among socially-conscious funds. Many, for example, rack up high returns […]
Green Credit Unions Do Well by Doing Good While many of us may feel we don’t have the extra money, let alone the spare time, to take the plunge into the vortex of socially responsible investing (SRI), just about everyone has a bank account. A developing trend in banking allows customers" deposits to be used […]
There’s No One-Stop Shopping for Socially Conscious Money Publications Despite a trunkload of yellowing press clippings from the mainstream media and the burgeoning ranks of socially responsible mutual funds, coverage of progressive money issues remains a niche market. There still isn’t a full-fledged magazine-particularly of the slick, bimonthly variety-that serves the socially conscious money community. […]
Consumers and the environment will both lose if Congress doesn’t pass new tax breaks for investing in renewable forms of energy…
For most environmentalists the first law of money is "Spending less is best." That’s a fast way of saying the less we buy the better off the environment. As a general rule, it’s a good one: America’s prodigious and unsustainable shopping habits are creating pollution and depleting resources as fast as you can say "GNP growth."
Greening Corporations With Socially Responsible Investment Groups
Road Services: A Worthy Alternative to AAA -Most Americans have love-hate relationships with their automobiles. While cars do offer mobility, the open road is full of potholes—the literal ones and the environmental reckoning of congestion, global warming and declining air quality. Membership in an automobile club is one time-honored way motorists can gain some security and support. But few people are aware that their auto club, in addition to providing valuable services, from travelers" insurance and checks to roadside assistance, can also be a powerful political force working for social and environmental change—for better or for worse.
As the American economy continues to lag, more and more socially and environmentally responsible investors are looking south to find promising venture capital opportunities. While much of the rest of the world is bogged down in recession and cowed by the specter of terrorism, Latin American businesses are operating in a relatively safe and fast-growing economic climate friendly to sustainable development and still rich in virgin natural resources. A small cadre of environmentally conscious venture funds—most of which feature a nonprofit component—have already invested almost $2 billion in sustainable forestry, organic agriculture, renewable energy and other green businesses in the region, and are poised to make significant returns over the coming decades. Individual investors are still welcome to invest in many of these funds.
Alternative Currency Promotes Fresh Thinking About Sustainable Economics The angry people crowding the streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina last January were armed with casseroles and wooden spoons and making a hell of a ruckus. Unemployment was at historic highs, crime had skyrocketed, and the political system was on the verge of collapse. What was responsible […]
