ShoreBank shows it cares--community investing.Although there are many socially responsible banks, credit unions and loan funds, ShoreBank Pacific (an outgrowth of Chicago's South Shore Bank) stands out for environmentalists eager to put their savings of banking dollars to work directly supporting green efforts. ShoreBank's website (www.eco-bank.com) is full of loan stories that will warm any environmentally oriented o·ri·ent n. 1. Orient The countries of Asia, especially of eastern Asia. 2. a. The luster characteristic of a pearl of high quality. b. A pearl having exceptional luster. 3. soul. For example, ShoreBank financed equipment for Panel Tech, a company that makes nontoxic plywood plywood, manufactured board composed of an odd number of thin sheets of wood glued together under pressure with grains of the successive layers at right angles. Laminated wood differs from plywood in that the grains of its sheets are parallel. . Panel Tech now supports 36 living-wage employees in an economically depressed former timber town in southwest Washington State. Shorebank also gave an expansion loan to Stormwater Management, which uses composted leaves and other natural materials to filter oil, heavy metals heavy metals, n.pl metallic compounds, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel. Exposure to these metals has been linked to immune, kidney, and neurotic disorders. and other contaminants out of road runoff Runoff The procedure of printing the end-of-day prices for every stock on an exchange onto ticker tape. Notes: If the "tape is late" then it can take a long time to print off all the closing prices. . Why didn't conventional banks loan these businesses money? "Sometimes businesses come to us because of our reputation, but most often it's because of our staff of scientists," says Laurie Landers, Shorebank's eco-deposit manager. "Our expertise in environmental remediation Generally, remediation means providing a remedy, so environmental remediation deals with the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, groundwater, sediment, or surface water for the general protection of human health and the environment or from a and with [the green training and consulting program] Natural Step gives us insight into business situations that other banks consider too risky or ate uncomfortable assessing."--M.G. |
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