BANKING ON A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

GREEN LOANS, savings accounts and credit cards are becoming more plentiful and MORE POPULAR. But it PAYS to pick with care

- BETH BRAVERMAN

FROM USING REUSABLE BAGS AND PAPER straws to turning up (or down) our thermostats when the temperature is at extremes, we're all looking for ways to make more sustainable choices these days. That increasingly extends to the decisions that we make about our money, as a growing number of financial services companies have introduced green product options, from mortgages and car loans to credit card, savings and checking accounts.

"Green financial products are a natural evolution of what conscious customers want," says Jay Lipman, co-founder and president of Ethic, an asset manager that works with investors and wealth advisors on sustainable investing.

Four in 10 U.S. consumers say they're interested in enrolling in a green-linked financial product, according to data from McKinsey, with two-thirds of them saying they'd allot up to 40 percent or more of their savings or credit card spending to such a product. And the interest cuts across demographic lines, shared by city dwellers, suburbanites and rural residents and by people of all income levels.

With so many new green financial offerings on the market, though, it can be hard to figure out which ones make sense for your financial situation and which ones are actually delivering on their environmental promises versus those that are simply greenwashing.

Here's a look at some of the green financial products on the market-and what you need to know before deciding whether they're right for you.

GREEN MORTGAGES

SOME MORTGAGE LENDERS WILL PROVIDE MORE favorable financing terms for incorporating eco-conscious product options like Energy Star appliances and programmable thermostats into your new home as well as for bigger projects like upgrading your HVAC system or installing new windows, solar panels or insulation.