If you’re someone who values protecting the environment, but struggles to make a difference on a personal level––we have good news for you.
A new service was just launched, “Plant Your Change,” that will allow Americans to automatically plant a tree every time they buy something––simply by rounding up their purchase to the nearest dollar––and they don’t even have to switch their debit or credit card to sign up. This innovative idea to plant trees with spare change comes from Aspiration, a socially and environmentally conscious financial service founded in 2013 and backed by celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio and Orlando Bloom.
“Buy a cup of coffee, you are planting a tree,” said Aspiration CEO Andrei Cherny. “By just taking a few extra cents and rounding up, it makes positive impact on the environment. And it’s easy because people just set it up and go about their lives.”
Aspiration estimates that the average American would plant enough trees through this program to erase the annual climate impact of two cars on the road. And considering there are an estimated 115 billion card transactions every year in the United States, this has the potential to become one of the largest reforestation programs worldwide. Aspiration has partnered with Eden Reforestation Projects for this effort.
🌎 Impactful: Uses your spare change to plant a 🌲
🌎 Universal: Now, works with any debit or credit 💳
🌎 Easy: Choose how many trees you plant— Aspiration 🌳 (@Aspiration) October 16, 2020
The Plant Your Change feature was initially launched to Aspiration debit card holders in mid-April, which has resulted in nearly three million trees being planted. Now Aspiration taking the program to the next level by opening it up to everyone, regardless of whether or not participants are an Aspiration customer.
“This program is for people who feel like they want to make a positive difference in the world,” said Cherny. “They are making an enormous impact with spare change.”
Signing up for the program is easy. Simply head over to PlantYourChange.com, where you can safely and securely connect any existing debit or credit card in your wallet. Once signed up, you can feel good about the fact that every subsequent purchase will be planting a carbon-soaking tree. It’s truly one of the easiest ways to make a positive impact on our environment.
This program is part of a larger effort by Aspiration to help Americans make a positive impact on the world through both their spending and saving. In addition to investing money into fossil fuel-free companies, the company has created a system called Aspiration Impact Measurement (AIM). This unique feature provides customers with a personalized sustainability score that is based on how their daily spending impacts people and the planet. The goal is to give people the tools and knowledge they need to make financial choices that will impact the world in a positive, sustainable way.
“What you do with your money really matters,” said Cherny. “American consumers spend $2.6 billion every day. That means we have the power to vote with our money on a daily basis, not just once every four years.”
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