Sustainability

Common Good Bank communities will proactively suggest and support new sustainable industries needed in the region.

Common Good Bank communities will lend only to socially and environmentally responsible businesses, individuals and organizations. All borrowers must sign a specific pledge of social responsibility and must report on their social and environmental impact. The pledge and reporting requirements will be similar to the United Nations Global Compact, but simpler, more locally focused and possibly more stringent. The Common Good Bank and the community can then hold the borrowers accountable.

Criteria

Common Good Bank communities will particularly support businesses that:

• Provide goods or services important to the local community.
• Are owner-operated (single proprietor, family business or worker cooperative).
• Develop alternative energy and/or strive for a sustainable environment through the goods and services they provide.
• Contribute to the quality of life on Earth (for humans, animals and plants).
• Promote the economic advancement of women, ethnic minorities, and individuals with physical and mental disabilities.
• Give generously to charitable causes.
• Pay their employees a living wage and implement policies that promote the welfare of their employees.
• Have a positive impact upon society through the quality and safety of their products.
• Freely disclose and implement exemplary human and labor rights policies and environmental codes of conduct.

Common Good Bank communities will NOT support businesses that:

• Pollute the environment.
• Discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, or perceived disability.
• Manufacture weapons or tobacco products.
• Generate nuclear power.
• Make no productive contribution to society. (In particular, making someone financially richer does not by itself constitute a productive contribution.)
• Violate regulations of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
• Genetically modify seeds or living organisms.
• Promote gambling.
• Violate or deny basic human rights of workers.
• Treat animals cruelly.

Additionally, Common Good Bank communities may require a percentage of any business loan or home mortgage to be earmarked for cost-effective energy-saving improvements, until the premises meet a minimum standard, such as the U.S. Green Building Council LEED standard for new construction and the Built Green standard in Washington State. Likewise, new car loans will be available only for vehicles that satisfy stringent emissions and mileage standards.