I'd Go 'Green,' If I Could

  I was watching the Live Earth concerts last month thinking about ways in which I could help save the planet by reducing the amount of paper I waste. And one of the first things that came to mind was the amount of paper statements and bills I receive each month that keeps piling up.
  I occasionally go through the pile, stapling together my phone and other bills separately so they're all together. That way at the end of the year I can tally the totals up so I know how much my wife can write off as business expenses.
  Then I keep the stacks for several years. I'm not sure why, maybe because I don't know how long I'm supposed to keep them because experts suggest different things. One suggests keeping virtually all bills and bank statements anywhere from one year to permanently. Big help.
  As this month's cover story points out, more financial institutions are touting online bill payment, electronic statements and other means to reduce the amount of paper they distribute. But that's only part of the solution. They also need to make sure that customers have ready access to the electronic files in case they need them, even going back years.
  I pay all my bills online, but my bank only keeps a list of my payments for the past 12 months. So if I do my taxes in March, I can't use the bank's Web site to see what my payments were for January and February of the previous year. Also, my bank makes it possible to see my checking-account statements immediately only for the current year. If I want to go back further, I have to order the statements with the possibility of paying a fee for the service.
  I'd like to go paperless, but my own bank's policy for limiting how long I can see my payment histories and statements electronically is keeping me from doing it.
  If the payments industry wants to reduce the amount of paper being wasted-and the expense associated with sending bills and statements by mail-it's going to have to make electronic statements as readily available to customers as the paper versions.
  Until it does, I'll keep my stapler close at hand.
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