Like most people, I find it hard to remember to pay bills by going directly to a company’s offices or Australia Post. Either I put the bill in my handbag then forget to go anywhere near the post office, or I slap my head when I see the office because I’ve left the bill at home. The number of Aussies using BPay to pay bills is increasing every year: it’s not only more convenient to pay from home, it’s a real time-saver compared to the queues you endure when paying in person.
Something you might not have thought about is that paying your bills online or by phone is one of the little things you already do (or can easily start) that’s good for the environment. As well as saving time, you save the petrol/pollution it would have taken you to drive to a company’s office or Australia Post. It also saves paper compared to the old-fashioned method of paying by cheque.
Save more trees: go paperless
If you pay by direct debit you can save the biller the trouble, trees and petrol it takes to print the bill, stuff it in an envelope, and deliver it to you. The disadvantage of letting a company have your bank details so they can just withdraw the money as the bill falls due, is that you could end up overdrawn. And even if having the money withdrawn from your account isn’t a financial concern, it’s still a bit disconcerting to have it disappear without you knowing about it.
This is where paperless billing comes in - I get my Telstra bill emailed to me instead of using snail mail. I get to review the amount, then click a link that will allow me to pay on the spot via credit card or a one-off direct debit. This still saves me time and prevents the wasted paper, but also gives me control over when the money is withdrawn from my account. And honestly, I’m more likely to just get on with it when I’ve got the email right in front of me, and it’s as easy as clicking a link 
Any mail I’m not keeping, like bills and their envelopes, goes into our recycling tub or sometimes into the compost. This is better than just sending them to landfill, but obviously it’d be best to save the effort and waste of making and sending them in the first place.
If a business offers paperless billing, you’ll need to provide them with your email and a secure password, and then you’re ready to go. If someone who bills you doesn’t offer an email or SMS alert for your bill, then write them a letter to ask them when they’re going to start.
There are very few companies now who don’t offer BPay via phone or online now for their regular payments. Most phone companies offer an email or SMS notification service as well. Think about the bills you pay - insurance, electricity, gas, rates, etc - and see how many you can make paperless. My gas company only offers regular direct debits, but I’ll be switching my insurance and electricity to paperless bills this week. After all, I don’t actually enjoy getting bills in my letterbox!
Edited to add: I’ve just come across this post about The green impact of going paperless at Greener Pastures blog. The quantities of paper, etc are in pounds and gallons, but I think it’s interesting to see anyway.
I was very very disappointed when the Post Billpay service scaled back: it was an excellent way to receive and manage paperless bills all in one place. Unfortunately a while ago they discontinued that particular aspect of their facilities.
I pay all my bills online whenever I can. Its just so convenient. Though I do need to contact telstra et al to get them to email me their invoices instead of posting them….
There you go, saving the environment already! Telstra’s online services are a bit crusty (like all of their over-complex web stuff!) but the emails show up on time, and once you’ve set it up a few clicks will get you paid in no time.
I pay my gas bill by direct debit, but they still send me the bill telling me how much I owe and when it will be debited. I like this because I know how much is going to come out, but I’m not saving any trees.
Recently my bank told me they’ve changed statement mailing to quarterly instead of monthly. They listed ways to get statements in the meantime, including the past seven years of statements online. I was never going to get around to asking them not to send statements. And I still like that bit of paper.
I started getting a telstra bill by email, but when they started charging for using a credit card I went back to paying at the post office. The credit card charge is only 2% extra or something minute like that, so I should just pay it online.