04 Jun A Paperless Home?

Did you know that each Austin household receives an average of 14 bills per month via the U.S. Postal Service? Most Austinites use several utility and service providers that continue to mail vast amounts of paper (bills, advertisements, updates,etc.) to our mailboxes: electricity, gas, water, disposal , wireless and cable bills and more. So let’s make a greener choice: it’s time to go paperless. While we may not ever reach the goal of a paperless office, we can move closer to a paperless home.

There are several benefits of paperless billing:

Save Money: Going paperless billing saves the average household about $75 per year in reduced postage costs.

Earn Money: AT&T and other service providers offer periodic incentives to do so. This month AT&T is offering a $10 Reward Card for every account enrolled in Paperless Billing.

Save Time: You would gain back nearly an hour per month of your time (3 to 5 minutes per bill) by going paperless.

Eliminate Clutter: Keeping track of bills, envelopes, statements, files, etc. is one of the most tedious tasks of household finance. There are better ways.

Reduce Identity Theft: 85% of Identity Theft Cases are due to offline transactions (i.e., lost checkbooks, stolen bills, statements and check payments). [source: Javelin Strategy & Research]

Conserve Natural Resources: According to the Project Performance Corporation, paperless billing can save the average household the following each year:

• 6 pounds of paper
• 23 pounds of wood
• Prevent producing 29 pounds of greenhouse gases

Saving this amount of greenhouse gas is the equivalent of:

• The emissions avoided by not driving 30 miles; or
• The emissions avoided by not consuming 2 gallons of gasoline.

While it may not sound like much, image the impact if every household in Greater Austin chose paperless billing. So why wait? Go paperless and make another step toward a greener Planet. You’ll wonder why you didn’t do so sooner.