How to spend money without feeling really guilty; Small change; If

It's very comforting to know, as we hurtle ever closer to nuclear destruction, that we all care passionately about the planet we live in.

It is important to be healthy, isn't it? Eat all the right things, wear the right nappies, and breathe the right air? Unless you're an Iraqi, of course.

Actually, I'm always a bit cynical. Not about the pending war in Iraq, which is a very tricky issue. Having lived in the Middle East, I have many Iraqi friends, most of whom have left the country. But then they say six million Iraqis have left their homeland. Saddam Hussein is not a good man.

The Iraqis I know are gentle, sweet creatures, as are all my Palestinian friends. I get very cross when irresponsible television crews portray them as gun-toting maniacs. Oh, the evil of the easy cliche ... I digress.

No, it's ethicals and greens I'm cynical about. I just can't stand people who always do the right thing. I'm the sort who instinctively always wants to do the bad thing.

But according to the Co-op Bank's ethical index, which will be published on Wednesday, I'm the odd one out (now there's a surprise).

The index shows that we are becoming more and more like Goody Two- Shoes by the minute, spending our money a staggering nearly 20% more "ethically" this year than last. That is a colossal change in the direction of our spending power, and at a time when the UK economy grew by just 2.1%.

The holiest-than-thou of us all are new parents. The jars of organic baby food they bought last year amounted to 37% of the total, but this year a 51% majority of jars of baby food sold were organic. Staggering, isn't it? But wait a minute. Isn't there something of an inconsistency going on here? An organic jar of baby food?

Actually, I was very good when the babies were young (before they drove me to drink). I washed all their nappies. Couldn't stand a houseful of stinking disposables for a whole week before the bin men came.

But new parents today, they put me to shame. They buy organic teddies, organic cots and organic sheets, according to the Co-op. But they haven't the stomach for real, non-disposable nappies. Only one in 20 uses washables.

Did you know that a baby born today, bless its organic socks, will probably live to be 100? Or that its first nappy will last four times longer?

Bank customers have finally got the message about shopping around for good value, according to various reports which will be published next week to coincide with the first anniversary of the campaign to shake account-holders up and put an end to their shameful apathy.

Research from Edinburgh based Intelligent Finance indicates that 4.5 million have moved or are set to move accounts, and the rate of switching will speed up.

What I found particularly interesting, though, was that one in three customers now have more than one account, which seems to prove what I have been telling you for a long time. When customers move banks, they do not always close the old account. This is why the more expensive high street giants can claim they are not losing customers when the reverse is true.

And the service from banks should improve further with the arrival of the new banking code, also to be published shortly. It will dictate tighter timetables to ensure that account-switching happens quickly and easily. Furthermore, and more importantly for savers, if a bank lowers interest rates, so that depositors suffer, it must notify them of that fact.

This should finally nail the sharp practice by which savers opt- in to an attractive deal, only to discover months, sometimes years, later, that its value had subsequently and quietly been reduced to virtually nothing.

I'm not going to say much about Equitable. The story above says it all. It must be nearly two years ago now that I had to take the then new Equitable chairman, Vanni Treves, to task for calling all journalists liars. I said at the time we were the only ones to tell you the truth. Talk about shooting the messenger!

I don't for a minute think that he, chief executive Charles Thomson and the rest of the current Equitable board have acted in any way other than what they honestly believe to have been in the best interests of policyholders. But it's all very sad.

Everyone likes to talk about lessons learned. I just hope the government learns something about how best to structure the nation's pensions.

As ever on Tuesday, I will join Good Morning Scotland's financial presenter Waseem Zakir for the regular personal finance slot.

If you want to share any of your thoughts about any of this with us, or if you have any questions or issues you want us to address, please email me here on Teresa.Hunter@sundayherald. com or contact Waseem on Waseem.Zakir @bbc.co.uk.

Copyright 2002 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
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