🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <41iop2$acg@agate.berkeley.edu>,
Bryce Nesbitt <bryce@remarque.berkeley.edu> wrote:
>I have no relation to the following program other than as a satisfied
>member and customer:
>
>
>MBNA bank and The Nature Conservancy offer a no-compromises "affinity"
>credit card.  Unlike other such cards, there is no outrageous annual
>fee or ridiculous limited service.
>
>The Conservancy gets .5% of each purchase plus an unspecified yearly
>contribution.  While small (only $50 if you spent $10,000 a year), it
>is something.  The Conservancy is a very effective and established
>environmental organization.  They protect land the old fashioned way:
>they buy it.  They also buy development rights and broker land exchange deals.
>
>The customer gets a no-fee full featured card.  The regular card has car
>rental damage coverage, travel insurance and travel services.  The gold card
>adds purchase security, extended warranty and all the regular gold features.
>APR is 7.9% introductory, 17.9% regular.  Grace period is 25 days.  Average
>Daily Balance method.  2% cash advance fee.
>
>1-800-847-7378.  "EF-234" Tree Frog, "EF-385" Heron, "EF-386" Otter
>or for gold service, "31-633" and no picture. 
>

   I had a MBNA "Save-the-Earth" type card for a few years.  It was like 
the card described above and donated a portion of my expenditures to
a group of charities.  When I signed up, I was hoping that it would 
be a relatively low impact card with such features as:

    - envelopes and monthly statements printed on paper 
      with a high post-consumer waste content
    - envelopes without plastic or glassine windows
    - no junk enclosures 
    - no random mailings 


What I got, though, was just like any other credit card, but donated a trivial
amount of money to my favorite charities.  Some of the things about the
card that really offend me include:

    - plastic windows on every envelope 
    - lots of glossy inserts about collector's plate offers or other junk
    - statements made of virgin, bleached paper
    - mailing from MBNA about their frequent buyer programs, or a mailing
      containing their "checks" (with only a $4 transaction fee per check,
      plus instant interest charges)


Isn't there a credit card that does more than just donate a little bit
of money ?  Does a card exist that does minimal environmental damage ?




-------------------------------------------------------------
Marc Rumminger                mrum@pyrolab.berkeley.edu