5 ways to make your money ethical

1. Invest in ethical funds, or environmental funds

There are many investment funds available for people who want to invest their money ethically. This could be excluding certain industries such as those involved in nuclear, animal testing or tobacco, or could also actively invest in companies that provide a positive benefit to society or the environment. You can view these through the Worldwise Investor fund library and search by ethical screen.

2. Switch to an ethical bank

Among the many banks that offer current accounts, there are few that have an ethical approach, those that do include the Co-operative,smile and Nationwide.Smile, which is part of the Co-operative Bank, is carbon-positive, they generate their own power, and tailor their ethical policy to
the needs of their customers. At the moment this includes avoiding indiscriminate weapons manufacturers, companies that impede access to drinking water or vital medicines, or those that extract or produce fossil fuels.

3. Open an ethical savings account

There is a slightly wider range of banks providing ethical savings. Triodos uses its money to “add cultural value and benefit people and the environment”. Ecology building society is dedicated to environmentally friendly building projects. Shared Interest provides funds forn the Fairtrade industry, their tagline is “justice not profit”. Another option is The Charity Bank, which as its name suggests, lends to charities.

4. Take out, or provide an ethical loan

Zopa, a UK company, bypasses the banks and directly links lenders to savers, so you can allow people to lend without paying the banks for the privilege. Another option is to provide microloans to less fortunate around the world, for example through Oikocredit, or Deki.

5. Spend ethically and environmentally

There are also multiple ways to spend your money ethically, for example by buying Fairtrade products.  You can limit your consumption carbon footprint by making use of the new labelling scheme, and can buy from environmentally friendly companies such as Ecover, or the Body Shop.