Yes

by Sarah Parrish

Created on: June 13, 2011

Consider for a moment how much paper gets used in sending billing statements.  Even without taking into account superfluous bills or banking statements, like confirmation of a payment or an updated list of recent purchases, that's a lot of paper.  Now include those bills that are actually requests for payment.  That's even more!  Imagine how much paper would be saved, even per family, per year, if these billing statements didn't need to be mailed but could be sent electronically.  Now try to imagine that amount of paper multiplied by how many families or individuals are receiving those types of statements every month. 

The sheer quantity of paper that goes through the mail unnecessarily is staggering.  Junk mail is a problem, but perhaps even more nefarious is the type of mail that we can opt out of receiving.  It's safe and secure to access bank accounts and investment portfolios through bank websites.  Just keep in mind the necessary practices to do so safely, like don't use public computers to log on and don't respond to emails asking for passwords or other personal information.  When in doubt, simply call your financial institution.

One of the main arguments against using online bill payment methods is the fact that many people feel the internet is insecure.  Oftentimes, this is due to a lack of understanding and sometimes, this feeling of a possible security breach is justifiable.  For companies like Paypal, security is what the entire business is founded on.  If Paypal couldn't guarantee secure transactions, they wouldn't survive for long since no one would take advantage of their services.

Another often-considered argument against using online bill payment methods is how many people feel their own bills are insignificant compared to the bills and wasted paper of everyone else in the world.  While it's true that it's an insignificantly small amount of waste, imagine if no one thought like that.  The world would be full of people who felt responsible toward doing their part to reduce the needless use of paper, no matter how insignificant their own personal contribution may be.  If that were the case, the results would certainly be significant. 

Even if we're unaware of it, we all have a responsibility to do what we can to prevent harm to the environment.  Part of this responsibility means not wasting paper products.  With a convenience as simple, secure, and convenient as online bill payment, there's no good reason not to take advantage of it.

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