I am planning to start a bunch of other newsletters. The theme would remain around sustainability.

In case you (or someone you know) are interested in exploring this as a side gig, please do reach out for more details. You can simply reply to this email :)

Moving onto this week’s content. So today, we have-

• The most impactful activity you can do for the planet

• A startup that is building a sustainable and transparent banking model

• Another startup that is helping homeowners transition to solar

• What are the safest energy sources in the world?

💚The most impactful activity you can do for the planet

Shorten your showers, take public transportation, and fly less. We’ve all been told to do these things to mitigate climate change.

And all of them have a positive impact. But they need a lifestyle change.

We need to step out of our comfort zones to get there. I am not saying that we shouldn’t. I am just saying that it’s hard.

But what if we could have a bigger impact by making a smaller change?

Nordea is a Nordic universal bank in Finland. Its sustainable finance team did some research and found out the following-

• Shorten your showers by two minutes each time – you save 1.06 tonnes of CO2 emissions

• Take one less international flight per year – you save 18.93 tonnes of CO2 emissions

• Take the train instead of the car – you save 26.73 tonnes of CO2 emissions

• Eat only one piece of meat each week – you save 35.68 tonnes of CO2 emissions

While if you move your pension savings to sustainable funds – you save 2,222.67 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

That’s 27 times more impactful than the other four ways of reducing your carbon footprint.

Just by putting your savings into a green bank (one that does not invest your money into fossil fuel companies) or investing it in assets that are helping the planet heal(like renewable sources of energy), you can have a big impact.

And it doesn’t require any lifestyle change.

Green banking and sustainable funds provide you with the same experience as traditional banking. You just need to make the move.

💵 A transparent and sustainable banking model

This is how it flows…Let me just break this down for you. You deposit your money in the banks as a long-term investment. Banks circulate this money amongst industries, which include fossil fuel and carbon-intensive ones. So indirectly, your money is funding fossil fuel projects around the world and you are part of the problem, unknowingly.

Money matters…The 6 largest banks in France have a carbon footprint that is 8 times that of the entire nation. And no, it’s not because of the emissions from their physical assets and employees. It’s from the investment that they have made in the fossil fuel companies. Helios is changing that by investing people’s money in industries related to the ecological transition- green energy, waste management, and ecosystem conservation.

• Customers pay a monthly fee of €6- no premium versions, no hidden fees.

• This covers the Visa bank card, account maintenance, unlimited withdrawals, and transfers to accounts in the Eurozone.

• Their bank cards are also made of cherrywood sourced from sustainable forests in Europe.

All in one place…Helios tracks your spending and calculates the carbon footprint of each purchase. The calculation is done based on greenhouse gas emission data from companies. The bank then even suggests ways to lower your carbon footprint. All this in a few clicks. Isn’t that amazing?

🌞 Financing homeowners to switch to solar energy

Did you know…In Australia, the energy sector continues to be one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, amounting to 75% of the total emissions. It still burns coal for most of its energy and it has one of the highest per capita consumption of coal. It’s no surprise that mining is one of the biggest industries in the country and coal is its second-biggest export. Maybe he can convince them…

Brighter & cleaner…Brighte is making it easy for customers to switch to solar energy. It has transparent, fast, and affordable finance options available for Australian homeowners. It finances projects like setting up solar and battery storage systems or building an off-grid system for homeowners. Here’s how it works-

• Brighte connects customers with its solar partners and helps them get various quotes.

• The customer finalizes the partner. Once the job is finished, Brighte pays the full amount to the partner.

• And the customer starts paying back Brighte in fortnightly installments.

It’s all there…Brighte has a 0% interest payment plan and the only fee that it charges is a $1.50/week account-keeping fee. It also provides financing for other household improvements. It has enabled over 1,800 solar and home improvement partners to serve over 60,000 Aussie households.

⚡Which are the safest energy sources?

Coal is clearly the biggest killer. So, it makes sense to see how nations are using coal-

Thanks for reading today’s edition. If you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to write to me by replying to this email.

Have a great weekend😊