How 'green' is your money?

26th April 2000
From May 1st two of the UK's leading ethical financial services organisations, Triodos Bank (UK Division) and the Ecology Building Society, will be switching their electricity over to 'green' supplier - Ecotricity.

Ecotricity is electricity derived from sources that are significantly less polluting and more sustainable than conventional fuel sources. The company founded the UK's 'green' electricity market in 1996 and is now the undisputed market leader in Europe.

Triodos Bank is one of Europe's leading ethical banks and was founded in 1980 to finance a new generation of projects and enterprises that would create social and environmental value. The UK division of the bank was established in 1995 and has doubled in size every year. The projects the bank supports are diverse and range from such fields as renewable energy, social housing, complementary health care, fair trade, organic food and farming and social business. Triodos Bank is the first bank in the UK to have been awarded the ISO 14001 certificate for its environmental management system. The supply of Ecotricity to the UK headquarters further cements Triodos Bank's commitment to environmentally sustainable projects.

Glen Saunders, Managing Director, Triodos Bank, comments:

"Triodos Bank is committed to helping to build a sustainable future. We finance numerous renewable energy projects and it is fundamental to our ethos that we take positive steps to reduce our own impact on the environment, using 'green' energy is a key part of this".

The Ecology Building Society was founded in 1981 offering customers a means to finance the purchase of properties that provide an ecological payback. It remains the only society that screens the property on which it lends money, with a regard to environmental compatibility.

George Penaluna, Marketing Manager, The Ecology Building Society, commenting on their decision to now be powered by Ecotricity:

"The whole remit of the Ecology Building Society is to reduce the impact our housing has on the environment, so it is only natural that we should seek to minimise the environmental damage caused in generating 'brown' electricity. Our services help to protect the environment so using renewable electricity is an obvious step forward for us".

Dale Vince, Managing Director, Ecotricity, commenting on their new customers:

"The environment is at the heart of our business so it's a great pleasure to work with organisations that have an environmental and ethical agenda".