 Fed up with the returns and attitudes at mainstream finance firms, the Shropshire teaching assistant Sue Boulding and her partner, Steve, decided to look elsewhere for a more suitable home for their finances.  "We'd had our fingers burned by investing in pension schemes and an endowment mortgage with conventional financial companies, and it was all the more upsetting when we realised what these companies invested our money in," Sue (pictued below) says.  The couple opened investment and savings accounts with Triodos Bank and the Ecology Building Society. "They both offer a gimmick-free investment that doesn't harm the environment, or abuse animals, and doesn't rely on some poor devils working all hours in lousy underpaid jobs to pay our interest rates.  "I also like the idea that our investment with Triodos helps a start-up and sustainable businesses that the usual companies wouldn't consider."  The couple have also switched current account from Lloyds TSB to the Co-op Bank. "They don't support armaments manufacturers, oil and mining companies and so on, which is important to me."  Importantly, Sue believes the couple haven't lost out by turning to green and ethical finance firms. "We've had a fair return - certainly comparable and competitive with non-ethical institutions."  Choosing ethical finances is a growing trend. EIRIS, the non-profit sustainable investment research firm, reports that the amount of money invested in Britain's green and ethical retail funds has just reached a record high of ?11.3bn. In the last decade the number of ethical investors tripled from 250,000 in 2001 to three-quarters of a million today.  National Ethical Investment Week launches tomorrow to highlight the opportunities and issues around green finances. Barry Tootell, chief executive of the Co-operative Bank, says the lack of trust in mainstream banks has led many more people to think about the ethics of their finances.  "The financial crisis has led to increased awareness of how financial services providers use customers' money," says Tootell. "as a result an increasing number of consumers  