The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

As part of a green initiative, Graystone Tower Bank presented a $1,312 donation to The Nature Conservancy that will be designated to the Gulf Restoration Fund to aid in oil spill cleanup efforts.

In August 2010, Graystone Tower Bank launched a green campaign focused on “Moving in the Right Direction” and encouraged customers to minimize their environmental footprint by enrolling in e-Statements. For each Graystone Tower Bank customer who signed up for e-Statements during the campaign, the Bank donated $1 to assist with the Gulf oil spill cleanup efforts. As the campaign wrapped up in October, more than 1,300 green-minded customers joined in the eco-friendly initiative by signing up for e-Statements.

“The launch of our e-Statement campaign parallels our mission of making a positive impact and our recent green initiative is one step toward reducing our carbon footprint,” said Judy Bertotto, chief retail officer of Graystone Tower Bank.

“It is a win-win for our customers, our bank, and the environment. Customers receive immediate access to their statements, the bank reduces the quantity of paper used in printing statements, and the donation will aid in cleaning up the effects of the oil spill,” Bertotto said.

Nature Conservancy has been working in the Gulf of Mexico region for decades, protecting sensitive shore areas and restoring habitat for seabirds, turtles and the native fish and oysters that are so crucial to the local economy.

It will be years before the full impacts of the 2010 oil spill can be fully understood, so these ongoing projects to restore healthy ecosystems are critical, Cindy Brown, director of the Conservancy’s Gulf of Mexico program. In July, the Conservancy launched a broad initiative to restore the health of the Gulf.

Protection work extends from Florida all the way to Texas, and Conservancy scientists are collaborating with other groups on cleanup efforts while working to protect ecosystems that were threatened by pollution long before last spring’s oil spill. For example, the Conservancy is presently working in Mobile Bay to build 100 miles of new oyster reefs and protect 1,000 acres of marsh and seagrass beds that serve as critical nursery areas for many species of Gulf of Mexico fish and shellfish.

“We need to be thinking about restoring the processes that support the entire ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico,” Brown said. “We’ve got phenomenal biodiversity here.”