Javelin Strategy & Research released a study this month noting that most consumers are interested in adopting green banking practices, like receiving online bills. Despite that interest, three out of four consumers still receive paper statements.

The problem seems to be that most banks haven’t made the process simple: “Most consumers want to do the right thing, but if the process appears confusing or inconvenient, they simply aren’t going to bother changing their banking habits,” said Mark Schwanhausser, research analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research. “In many ways, it’s up to banks to influence consumers. They must offer tangible, compelling ‘green’ options and make them as simple as screwing in a CFL bulb.”

There are some simple steps that consumers can take, like switching to direct deposits and turning off paper statements. The study reported that 43 percent of consumers are more likely to do business with companies they perceive to be green, and most consumers want to use banks that offer greener services. It’s just a matter that they haven’t switched their own practices yet.

Other findings of the Green Banking Report include:

• Three out of four consumers receive paper statements.
• 34 percent of consumers said they switched to electronic statements to reduce their impact on the environment.
• One out of five consumers (22 percent) said green initiatives cement the bond they have with their bank.
•  60 percent of “green bankers,” or consumers who say environmental impact is “extremely important” in purchasing and banking decisions, are women.
• 64 percent of “skeptics,” or consumers who say they are “very less likely” to be more loyal to their bank because of its environmental activities, are men.

The data the report is based on was collected from a random-sample panel of 2,350 respondents. The respondents bank with a variety of banks, from Credit Union One of Oklahoma to Bank of America. The actual report is available for purchase from Javelin Research for $1500.

The importance of greening banking practices — let alone other business — is clear: Javelin’s research shows that stopping the practice of sending paper statements and bills in the U.S. would save 687,000 tons of paper each year — enough to circle the globe 239 times. And if online banking became a worldwide practice, the saved paper would be inestimable. Beyond saving the actual paper, there would be reduced amounts of paper in landfills as well as in need of recycling. Carbon emissions would be lowered, as would the energy needed to produce and recycle paper.