The global financial system as we know it seems to have gone into meltdown. Banks built on pillars of borrowed money are crumbling as toxic’ debt shuts down the wholesale credit market they rely on. In the scramble to bail them out, governments are abandoning the free-market approach that the banks have profited from for so long.

While we are all likely to feel the pinch to some degree in the short-term, will there ultimately be a positive outcome from the credit crunch? It has certainly raised awareness of the abstract yet inter-connected nature of the system, where irresponsible lending decisions in the USA can bring the financial world to its knees. Perhaps the biggest barrier to bringing in real change does not lie with the banks but in our attitude towards money. As sure as bust follows boom, too many of us have an ethical blind spot when it comes to our finances.

A report, commissioned by Triodos Bank last year, found that many active ethical consumers often do not apply the same demanding criteria to their choice of bank as they do to their daily lives.

Professor Alex Gardner, the author of How Green is Your Money? says: ‘While people regularly recycle and are happy to pay more for ethical products, such as fair trade coffee and organic food, they ignore their basic values when it comes to banking choices.’

The qualitative research, which aimed to get to the bottom of this conundrum, came up with some interesting conclusions. For instance, while those with deep green values are prepared to spend more on ethical lifestyle choices, from buying organic food to carbon offsetting, they apply a ruthless criterion when it comes to banking. The one factor that they said they are most interested in is financial return and not on where the money goes. Why is this?

Maybe it is because banking is not yet dinner party conversation. Friends will often debate the merits of organic food and fair trade round the table but we do not tend to discuss money matters, even with our close friends. We are unlikely to know what they earn, what they have got saved away and with whom they bank. So, there is little chance of picking up on the real stories behind banking; both the negative ones and the stories of sustainable finance that act as a powerful force for positive change.

Participants in the study picked out apathy as one of the factors holding them back. As people do not make financial decisions on a regular basis ñ it has been said that most adults are more likely to get divorced than switch banks ñ they often do not have to think about the consequences. In contrast, every time they go shopping, they make a choice about what to buy ñ especially when food and clothes are so visible. There is always the risk that one will bump into a friend at the checkout carrying a basket full of the wrong’ products.

What is needed is a more meaningful appreciation of value, which does not just focus on interest rates and which allows money to become a talking point. Just as the banks have to become more transparent in their dealings, we too need to be more open about our money, eliminating our collective ethical Achilles heel. Only then can the general public buy into the story as well as the products ñ as they have done with organic and fair trade goods ñ and start to understand the real value of money.

Photo: © Will Ferguson

Will Ferguson is the communications officer at Triodos Bank. How Green is Your Money?’ is available from william.​ferguson@​triodos.​co.​uk