In today’s world, it seems everywhere you turn businessesand individuals are increasing their efforts to go green and have a morepositive impact on the environment.  Fromhome appliances deemed energy-efficient with the “Energy-Star” logo tobusinesses starting up their own recycling programs, it is easy to see why somepeople might see the concept of “going green” as more of a trend than alifestyle.

And with this, when it comes to paperless billing andpayment, some people believe just that.  Thatpaperless billing and payment is merely a trend, another way for people to tryto follow the crowd in their efforts toward a greener world.

But  whether or notyou think going green is a trend, whether or not you are committed to making agreener lifestyle for yourself and your business, one thing should be agreedupon across the board –Paperless billing is more than a trend.

Our reasons for believing this are countless, just as ourreasons are countless as to why you and your business should make the switch(check out some of those reasons here.)

But one of the biggest reasons is because services likeSmartPay are web-based.  And the webcontinues to grow day by day.

The web has proven itself to be more than a trend.  According to an interview from Eric Schmidt,CEO of Google, the internet will continue to grow exponentially, especially dueto a “fundamental shift toward user-generated information that people willlisten to more than traditional sources.” Schmidt also commented on how realtime information is going to be key, as more and more consumers are growing toprefer and demand information and power at their fingertips.  And this is precisely what SmartPay gives you–literally.

Instead of waiting to receive a bill in the mail, writing acheck for that bill, sending it back through the mail and waiting for it toclear, customers check their e-mail and pay their bill or invoice with theclick of a mouse.  You can see why it ismore than a trend; it fits the growing demand for web-based applications onbehalf of consumers.  Since this demandwill only continue to grow as the internet also grows, day by day, month bymonth, and year by year, it is clear that web-based applications such asSmartPay are not phasing out anytime soon.

So if you believe “going green” is a trend, that isalright.  Everyone is entitled to theirown opinion, and I don’t think there’s ever been a time in history where everyonewas in agreement on a big social issue. 

When it comes down to it, paperless billing such as SmartPayis more than a trend.  But your hugebellbottom jeans and platform shoes from the ‘70s, or the mesh shirt you stillhave boxed up somewhere from the ‘80s? Now that’s a different story.

SmartPay is an intentionally green company. One of the reasons, in fact, to go with SmartPay electronic invoicing for your billing needs is that it cuts down on paper waste, fuel (no mail to be delivered), and toxins used in preparing ink, paper, and copy machine toner.

But sometimes people question this. "What about the electricity for running your computer?" they ask. "You can't think that e-invoicing is completely green if you use electricity for it."

We're glad to see people thinking about these things. We've thought about it, too. Here's our answer:

• The great majority of the fuel use for computers isn't the electricity used to run the computer, or even the electricity used to run the servers that stay on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week keeping things going. It's the electricity used for cooling the machines. Some studies estimate that two thirds of the electricity for computers is actually for cooling. Whatever we do to help slow down climate change -- including reducing our use of physical resources like paper and fossil fuels -- can help.
  
• Once your computer is on and running, it won't use any more fuel to run SmartPay than it would to run the spreadsheet, word processor, and printer you used to use to create those paper bills. In fact, turning off the printer can save as much energy as turning off your computer would.
• Energy-efficient computing is more about limiting the size of your monitor, giving up your screen saver and powering down when idle than about how much you actually use your keyboard. This is only relevant to billing if you actually wrote your invoices out by hand, though, since you probably used your computer to make paper bills.
  
• Having lots of software on your machine, on the other hand, can increase energy use, and can also slow down your computer. If you have lots of programs that you no longer run, or lots of unneeded files, consider taking an afternoon to clean up your computer. Give it a tune-up now and then, too, and you'll find that it runs better and you may get more done in less time -- thus reducing your energy usage.
• SmartPay is web-based, not software that runs on your computer, so it doesn't take up extra energy. The internet is an amazing energy-saver, and it runs much more efficiently now than it used to. Nearly anything you do on the web uses less electricity that the comparable task done without the internet.
• Having said that, we should also now suggest that the good-luck message email with music, a power point, and 17 large images that you were just about to forward to 200 of your closest friends should probably not be sent at all. If would take less energy than printing it all out or recording it and putting it into envelopes and sending it in the mail -- but you wouldn't do that, would you?