Finder is growing fast. As it grows, so does our impact on the world. Our purpose is to help the world make better decisions and we believe we have a responsibility to ensure that our impact is as positive as possible. This desire to be a responsible business is why we have launched our Finder Cares program, focusing on two key areas that align closely with what we do every day:
Financial Betterment
We went to help people make better financial decisions every day. We want to grow this positive impact, particularly with those who are struggling most with their finances.
Sustainable Action
The future of the planet depends on collective sustainable action. We want to do our bit by reducing the environmental impact of our business. We also want to use our platform to help others make sustainable decisions too.
Our research shows many Australians are struggling financially and at Finder our goal to help our readers tackle this problem. Here are some of our key commitments to you when it comes to bettering your finances.
Finder has always been free to use and since day one we've been writing guides, comparisons and reviews to help Australians make difficult financial decisions. As of September 2019, we have over 30,000 pages on our Australian site and more than 30 calculators to help you crunch the numbers on those tricky topics. Two of our most popular are the home-loan refinancing calculator and credit card repayment calculator. We are able to keep our services free by charging our partners for the interest our site generates for their products and services. To find out more about our business model check out our how we make money page.
The best decisions shouldn't be rushed. That's why we are proud of our commitment to never hassle Australians into making decisions they aren't ready to make. Unlike some comparison sites, you'll never get a follow up phone call from Finder trying to get you on board. . We think it's important to provide all the information you need to make a good decision, and give you the space and time to ensure that when you do decide, it's right for you and your life.
Finder was set up by two Australians, Fred Shebesta and Frank Restuccia, who still co-own the company. This means that we're not owned by a big bank or an insurer so we don't have to sell certain brands or products to hit group sales targets. We wear our independence as a badge of pride and our editorial guidelines sets this in stone. Our team of journalists and experts are fiercely protective of this and any advertorials or sponsored content will be clearly identified so you are never left guessing.
We're always looking for new ways to get people thinking about their finances. And while we do run a website we also strongly believe in getting our message out there in person and offline. Our Finder in the Community program has taken financial education to audiences at high schools and universities in New South Wales, and recently our own employees have taken part in sessions to share their expertise with each other to increase their own knowledge which can then be shared with our readers. Our Finder experts also appear regularly on TV, radio and in print to share their expertise with the people of Australia.
We know the future of the planet depends on sustainable action and Australiais particularly vulnerable if we fail to take action. In fact 61% of Australians have stated that they see climate change as a serious and pressing problem.
At Finder we are committed to not only reducing the environmental impact of our business but also to use our platform to help others reduce their impact too. Here are our commitments to taking sustainable action:
Like most office-based businesses, electricity is the biggest part of our carbon footprint. Laptops, servers and monitors use a lot of energy and we need a heap of them to keep a website like ours up and running. At our Sydney HQ, we've improved our energy efficiency by switching to LED lighting and setting up automatic power down for key equipment. We recently switched to green energy provider Energy Locals and now have a plan that provides us with 100% carbon neutral power. Even better our power bill is now almost almost 20% cheaper. Win-win!
With the Finder in house team growing quickly in numbers it's inevitable we create a fair amount of waste. In 2019, we launched a new recycling strategy and now over 40% of our waste is being diverted from landfill. When it comes to food waste we're particularly proud to work with OzHarvest to ensure any leftover food from our office doesn't go to waste. In 2018, OzHarvest collected more than 1,000 kilograms of food from Finder and turned this into nearly 4,000 meals for people in need. We are also proud to work with Kua Coffee for our caffeine needs. Kua deliver freshly roasted, ethically sourced coffee beans every fortnight and at the same time take away the spent coffee that we've used. This coffee "waste" is then turned into other valuable products like coffee based soap.
The action we take around the office is small fry in comparison to the impact we can have through our website. Nearly 2.5 million Australians visit our site every month and if we can persuade just a small percentage of them to take sustainable action then the collective impact is huge. This year we launched Finder Green which brings together all of the sustainable options we have across all the topic areas we cover here at Finder. We also have launched Going Green where we shines a light on individuals and organisations that are doing great work in this space. We've also integrated the Green Electricity Guide ratings in to our energy comparison table which makes it easier than ever to choose the greenest option.
