“Dedicated to Strengthening our Communities and the Planet We Live On.” That’s the line a large Wisconsin bank gave me when I challenged their policy of charging customers for paper statements. They claim they promote environmentalism by charging for paper statements and donating a tree to the Arbor Day Foundation.

So does this policy strengthen our communities? I think not. Thirty-eight percent of low- income Americans have no internet access and 59 percent have no broadband access at home. Forcing the disadvantaged to pay for paper statements does not strengthen our communities. Forcing the elderly to pay for paper statements does not strengthen our communities.

The bank was also proud of donating 41,000 trees “to help repopulate forests.” Sounds like a lot of trees, but is it? Wisconsin alone has about 16 million acres of forests. Wisconsin forests are growing 1.5 times more timber than is harvested. Every year, more than 65 million trees are planted in Wisconsin. Common practice in this region would be to plant about 600 trees per acre, so 41,000 trees represent less than 70 acres. Their 41,000 trees doesn’t sound like a lot to me.

Wisconsin’s second biggest industry in terms of economic output is paper converting. The third biggest is paper mills, and fifth biggest is commercial printing. Wisconsin has also been the country’s largest producer of paper for more than 50 years. One would think that a bank headquartered in Wisconsin would be a little more sensitive to the industry that employs 180,000 of its residents.

I rate their comments an 8 on the BS meter and a 10 on the stupidity meter.

On a related note, check out this video: