How a simple switch can change things for the better

Opinion by Mark Clayton

19 March 2026

Aligning your lifestyle with your values needn’t stop at adopting healthier habits. Thinking holistically, your values can also extend to how you shop, where you spend your money and, crucially, how you bank. The choices we consumers make have a ripple effect. Arguably, none of those choices is as powerful as how we use our money, whether that’s simply using a current account or investing for the future.

Banking often goes under the radar when we think about our power as conscious consumers. A current account opened in your teens can stay with us for decades, rarely questioned. Yet our money doesn’t sit idle. Banks use it every day to decide which businesses, projects and industries to back. Our finances are constantly shaping the world around us.

I’ve seen first-hand how financial systems shape the real economy. And all too often, the systems put profits above both people and the planet.

Financial institutions have a powerful role, either in accelerating harm or enabling solutions to the challenges the world is facing. But there is a way to take careful care of our money and make it work for us – while still protecting the world and creating a society that values dignity and empowerment for all.

Switching bank accounts, changing your energy provider or moving your savings and investments can be done in minutes, yet the impact could create positive change for years to come.

When millions of us make these switches, we send a clear signal that we want to build an economy that supports human rights, protects communities and safeguards the planet.

The more of us that move our money into sustainable finance, the greater this impact can be, whether that’s funding renewable energy, quality community housing, or social enterprises that deliver meaningful, life-changing work.

For example, Triodos has launched a new crowdfunding offer for award-winning special educational needs and disability charity Birtenshaw, which seeks to raise £3 million to redevelop its further education college in Bolton, thereby supporting young people with special needs and/or learning disability to lead independent and fulfilling lives.

Crowdfunding projects like this give consumers the chance to use their money directly for good.

This is ultimately about alignment – of how we live with what we believe. Aligning out money to our values. And aligning individual actions wih the collective effort needed to create the world we want to see.

This column by Triodos Bank UK CEO Mark Clayton was originally published in the Metro newsletter on 9 February 2026