In 1893, notable financier and philanthropist, Adolph Sutro, drew upon his Wells Fargo account to send money to the recently established environmental organization, the Sierra Club.

Wells Fargo & Co. offices used tags to remind employees to save electricity, circa 1910.

Wells Fargo initiated an ecology program at its San Francisco Operations Center in 1970. By the end of 1971, the bank’s recycling rate reached over 1.5 million tons of paper waste.

Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) published a report on the environment in the August-October 1972 issue of the company magazine, focusing on environmental issues and concerns in regions of North Carolina.

Fidelity Bank, now Wells Fargo, introduced a “Save Energy” graphic in 1975 to represent its new energy program. Under the program, employees were asked to make maximum efforts to reduce energy consumption by 15 to 25 percent throughout the organization. Fidelity Bank also created an energy conservation committee to find new methods of cutting energy consumption and to aid in eliminating any energy waste.

Wells Fargo established an Ecology Donation Program in 1972. When purchasing a new supply of checks, customers could elect Wells Fargo to donate a portion of the check purchase price to an ecology group of their choice.

The Mesa branch of United Banks of Colorado, now Wells Fargo, was constructed at a 45-degree angle from the street to allow for the addition of solar energy panels. The building opened in 1978.

Wells Fargo’s Paper Reduction Campaign in 1984 included a slogan contest. The winners’ slogans — “The Paper Re-shaper” and “Join the Paper Roundup” — were displayed on paper stackers in offices.

In 1991, A.G. Edwards (now Wells Fargo) introduced a new recycling symbol to appear on company publications. The design is patterned after the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol that originated from the inaugural Earth Day in 1970.

Norwest Bank Iowa, now Wells Fargo, highlighted the bank’s “greening” efforts in the January-February 1991 issue of company publication Newsbreak, which included expanding its recycling program, discontinuing the use of styrofoam, and raising environmental awareness among employees.

Wells Fargo’s first envelope-free ATMs rolled out in a pilot in northern California in 2002. ATMs began accepting deposits without an envelope, which helped reduce waste, saving trees and reducing air pollutants.

Wells Fargo became the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the United States in 2006, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The cover story of the March 2007 issue of Connections, an employee magazine, put the spotlight on how “everyday actions — large and small — are bringing Wells Fargo to the forefront of environmental leadership in corporate America.” Pictured on the cover is a Wells Fargo Green Team member visiting the Shiloh Wind Power Plant in Solano County, California. Green Teams were groups of employees who participated in Wells Fargo’s sustainability efforts and environmental activities in their communities, supporting green initiatives, sharing environmental activities and events with other employees, and raising awareness about sustainable opportunities, among other efforts.

In 2009, Wells Fargo began installing solar photovoltaic systems on the roofs of 10 retail banking stores in the Denver metro area, Colorado.

One of five Wells Fargo-owned tracking photovoltaic solar projects developed by SunEdison in southeastern New Mexico, among the largest in the United States, 2012.

Wells Fargo employees from the Whittier branch in southern California commute by bicycle in 1974, during the time of the energy crisis.

In 1975, First National Bank of Arizona (now Wells Fargo) invited customers to see a CitiCar on display in the lobby at the Paradise Valley office. The CitiCar was an electric vehicle produced from 1974 to 1977 by Sebring-Vanguard, Inc.

In 1979, Crocker Bank’s employee publication featured commuters who chose more economic and environmentally conscious ways than cars to get to and from work. Crocker Bank merged with Wells Fargo in 1986.

Wells Fargo opened its first solar-powered branch in Culver City, California, in 1979. Much of the mechanism was visible and passersby could see how the system functioned by peering from the inside lobby through a glass wall or from the outside.

Employees at First Interstate Bank of Oregon (now Wells Fargo) participated in an Earth Day crossword puzzle contest, 1991. The winners received prizes promoting reuse.

As part of Wells Fargo’s commitment to using recycled paper in all areas of business, the bank introduced checks printed on recycled paper in 1991. Branch employees wore tags such as this one to help promote recycled checks.

Wells Fargo’s Environmental Affairs brochure in 2010 described how the company is aiming to bring a “greater connection between banking and the environment, to help influence positive change.”

Wells Fargo’s electric vehicle charging station program for employees began in 2013 with a pilot at Home Mortgage headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa. The bank started with two charging stations in Des Moines; two in Phoenix, Arizona; four in Charlotte, North Carolina; and one in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. The program expanded to 42 charging stations in eleven states by 2016.

The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) was launched in 2014 by the Wells Fargo Foundation and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with the goal of de-risking innovations and speeding clean technologies to commercial markets. In August 2017, IN² convened a Summit and brought together more than 150 stakeholders from across the country to discuss innovation in residential buildings, transportation, agriculture and food systems, and water use as the keystone for building smart and connected communities.