Six ways to make your money matter
Many of us think that living in ways that are better for the environment is expensive, but you can help without having to spend a penny. How we save, invest and spend our money has a huge impact on our carbon footprint, often without us even realising it.
Here are our 6 top tips to make a difference with your money…
1. Support your local
Shopping locally produced food, clothing and items helps boost the local economy, reduces the distance your items have travelled, and protects local jobs. Have a look at labels to see where the things you’re buying were produced, and if you can, opt for Manchester-based independent shops, craft and farmers markets.
Check out this this list of independent shops in Manchester.
2. Repair, Reuse and share
Did you know the average household drill is only used for 10 minutes in its lifetime? Yet over 40% of households own one! Think of the money we could all save if we shared and repaired.
Manchester communities have been at the forefront of creating circular systems to help people share amongst each other, save money, and make our communities resilient.
The most sustainable item is the one we already own! But if you are on the lookout for something new, see if you can borrow it from a friend or Library of Things, rent it from a sharing app, or attend a repair café to learn how to repair something that’s broken.
3. Purpose over profit
Within a sea of creative marketing and complex words, it can be hard to tell if a brands word’s matches its actions. To find a company that matches your ethos and cares about purpose and the planet, look out for respected accreditations such as Fairtrade, Soil Association or B Corp.
Check out the growing number of UK B Corps here,
4. Power to your pension
Each year, the average UK pension member unknowingly finances 23 tonnes of CO2 emissions through the businesses their pension invests in. There’s £3 trillion in UK pensions – imagine the impact this could have if it was invested in renewable energy, community projects or ethical companies?
Pensions isn’t something that most of us control directly so to get started, you can get your employer to sign up to Make My Money Matter’s green pensions charter and also advise them to look at their resources for employers on how to engage with their pension scheme and they type of questions they should be asking.
5. Move your money
Not all banks are created equal. In fact, your bank may be investing your money in fossil fuel companies, arms, tobacco and more. The good news is that switching banks is pretty straightforward and allows you to use your money to support causes you believe in. There's a growing number of ethical alternatives out there, allowing you to choose to use your money to support causes you believe in - see how your bank is performing here.
As savers, consumers and pension holders we can influence what future our money is investing in and let the money do the work for us. Not only will shifting your savings, current account, pension or investments have a huge impact on your carbon footprint, it also send a strong signal to the markets that things need to change. By investing in sustainable, resilient, well-run companies, your investments are more likely to perform better in the long run, giving your money a chance to get better returns.
6. Ask your bank to stop investing in fossil fuels
If you can’t switch your bank, you can still make a difference. Between 2016 and 2021, HSBC, Barclays, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds funnelled $368 billion into the fossil fuel industry. Put simply, the fossil fuel industry cannot exist without banks – they are playing a critical role in financing the climate crisis.
Make My Money Matter’s new campaign is all about asking our current banks to stop investing in fossil fuels. One customer threatening to leave won’t make them change their ways, but if thousands of us do, that’s how we can create real impact.
Check out their campaign here and sign up to their open letter to help take action.
