What if there were a company that made helping to remove CO2 from the atmosphere as easy as paying the extra 1 cent on top of your $2.99 cup of coffee?

In April, as the economic and social portents of the COVID-19 pandemic became ever clearer, an eco-conscious American "neobank" called Aspiration launched a program to see if customers would be willing to contribute a small something to fund a mass tree planting.

The results, merely 3 months later, were more than anyone with the gift of foresight might have imagined. Even though some of Aspiration's customers may be temporarily jobless due to lockdowns, their rounding-up of various purchases funded the planting of 1 million carbon-capturing trees.

Using an Aspiration debit card comes with a feature called "Plant Your Change" which rounds up every purchase to the nearest dollar, with the extra few cents going to Aspiration's tree planting operations that span the globe, from North America to Africa.

The idea was based on a widely-publicized theory of climate mitigation that said our planet had experienced a lot of deforestation since the advent of the industrial age, and that returning some of those billions of acres back into forest would draw a significant amount of CO2 out of the atmosphere.

"Planting one million trees is a big achievement, but it is just the beginning," said Andrei Cherny, Aspiration CEO and co-founder. "What we've seen during the COVID-19 crisis is that our customers want to do more, not less, to take action to save our planet."

And, the neobank—which is a ‘B Corporation,' having adopted social good as its top priority—is also paying customers up to 10% cash back for doing business with the most eco-friendly companies.

Aspiration wants its customers to be able to actively see the costs of the modern global economy in terms of carbon as well as currency, and while they offer 1.00% APY on savings, which is far above the industry standard, their accounts also come with features like Aspiration Impact Measurement (AIM).

AIM allows card holders to accumulate a personal sustainability score, and to see and examine the scores of various businesses before they make a purchasing decision.

So far Aspiration has used their AIM to score thousands of merchants and businesses on how they treat the planet in their operations. The more often one uses their Aspiration debit card, the more they'll be able to see the impact of their spending, track it over time, and compare it to friends.

Purchases at many of the businesses and brands with the highest of these scores come with a 10% cash back bonus for responsible shopping.

Aspiration reminds us that throughout history—from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the Conflict Diamond trade—consumer spending decisions wield tremendous power when consumers are resolved, and studies demonstrate that more and more people are making consumer decisions based on things like ethics towards the land, ethics towards the climate, and ethics towards people.

Another feature is the Planet Protection, which when activated calculates the cost of carbon offsets when you use your Aspiration debit card at the pump. Transportation is the world's largest producer of CO2, and Plant Protection allows you to ensure there are carbon offsets being funded to cover the environmental cost of your driving.

Aspiration ensures the 3rd parties handling the carbon offsets purchases are reputable and the carbon offsets are accurately calculated. You can check out their FAQ page to learn more—and maybe start saving the planet with every purchase.

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Editor's note: This story has been altered, replacing the work bank with "neobank,"