These ATM machines accept stacks of up to 50 cash bills of various denominations or a stack of up to 30 checks. The machines take an image of the bills and checks and immediately provide the check images to the user.

No envelopes or deposit slips are required for the deposits, and so far companywide the ATMs already have saved about 460 tons of paper or 8,331 trees.

I’m talking about Wachovia Bank, bought by Wells Fargo in 2008,  going “green” starting with 12 bank locations in Georgia.

I used to be surprised to hear GREEN NEWS from our southern folk friends, well, not anymore. Even Chattanooga is considered one of the greenest small towns in America and can prove it with the first Green LEED Certified Movie Theater.

Installation of the ATMs is expected to go nationwide rapidly.

The banks and gas stations need to also stop criminals from swiping our ATM card numbers. The hackers are like inmates and sometimes it feels like they’ve taken over the jail!

Just last week, a friend of mine went to use the local Chase ATM to get some cash money. When he walked up to the ATM something struck him as funny.

If you had a couple drinks you may not notice

He told me, “I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but the card reader didn’t look right, like it wasn’t completely attached. I grabbed and pulled at the card reader and, lo and behold, it came off! It was actually a card skimmer attached to the ATM over that actual card reader. On the back there is a battery,  flash memory card, and a mini USB port it was set up so that ATM cards would first go through the skimmer and then into the ATM itself so you’d never know the difference.

Fortunately I’d seen a news story about this sort of thing a couple of years back and have been paranoid ever since.”

If the card reader on an ATM seems like it doesn’t belong—and especially if it looks fragile or misaligned—go to another ATM. And let someone at that bank or store know that they may want to double-check their ATM for skimmers.

these are attached to ATM's everyday. BEWARE

• "Hey Alex, I'll take Sustainable Energy for $300" What does sustainable mean? In the U.S. and Canada, many residential builders use the word “sustainable” as a synonym for “green.” We hear about sustainable development, sustainable homes, and sustainable building products. Now that the word “sustainable” has become ubiquitous — even at the GreenBuildingAdvisor Web site, where a new......
• Disney keeps greening up while Six Flags go down A friend of mine joyfully jumped with family on a plane and entered the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. When I ran into him a few days later, I asked him, "Was it packed?” He said, "Oh yeah,  three hour waits for Indiana Jones and most rides for that matter."......
• The Green Police Eco-Whacky Audi spot during the Super Bowl, by Jerry Hart The global warming industry is imploding from scientific scandals, inconvenient weather, economic anxiety and surging popular skepticism (according to a Pew Research Center survey released in January, global warming ranks 21st out of 21 in terms of the public's priorities). I guess a 21st ranking is enough for Audi to......
• Looks like I'm growing into green at exponential speed The kind of speed that thwarts you into self awareness and significant change. The intention of Hart of Green is to share exactly what is going on in my life and around the world that centers on green culture and character. When I committed to sharing personal details about who......
• The difference between green and cheap is a slippery slope on the 4th of July by Jerry Hart I gently poke about how smart we use our money, as I know many are under great stress with the economic crisis. That's not funny. Last year's party on this holiday weekend was at a friend's house who was serving appetizers on a reusable Styrofoam steak tray. You know, the......

• For High Interest Checking and Savings, Think Small, Look Local If you read other personal finance blogs (and I read dozens), you will be exposed to much information about high yield savings accounts from Internet banks.  Account reviews, updates on interest rates, sign up bonuses, and advertisements - it's everywhere.  This information available is helpful to those who are stuck......
• 5 Ways to Save Money Without Even Trying The whole process of saving money is usually associated with pinching pennies until they scream for mercy, living on food from dented cans and basically giving up everything for a future goal. While this will indeed help you put more money away, saving does not need to mean hardship. We......
• Organize Your Financial Life - Go Digital. If you are like most people, you still get statements in the mail for your credit cards, banks, auto loans, utility companies, etc.. But did you know that most of these companies will gladly set you up for online delivery of all the statements? We started doing this a while......
• 6 Spending Habits To Avoid Like The Plague! nYour spending habits will ultimately land you in two completely different realities:nn1) Increased wealth and abundancen2) Increased debt and strugglennHere are 6 common spending habits that often lead to increased debt and financial struggle and are best avoided like the plague.nn1. Spending more than you earn. It's actually easier than...
• Credit Card Companies - They really are out to get you Photo by: Graham Racher I'm just an average man with an average life I work from nine to five, hey, I pay the price All I want is to be left alone in my average home But why do I always feel like I'm in the twilight zone -......