I hate junk mail. Who doesn’t? But I mean that I really hate junk mail. It exhausts me. The average person spends 8 months of their life dealing with junk mail. With identity theft on the rise and the need to shred, I bet it is more than that! I have to open all the credit card “borrow money checks,” the offers of credit and anything with my name on it and shred it. I have to open every envelope from American Express, because they often diguise their special offers to look like a statement. I get the Gold Clipper coupon book. It has the same ads every time, and I have never used it for anything, but they still send it. I also get a weekly circular. Someone must know that I don’t buy the paper, it is mostly advertising and therefore a waste of trees) because I get all the coupons and sale ads that I have been trying to avoid. Top that off with the coupons and special values from any store that I have ever bought an appliance or had change my oil, and it is quite a stack. I used to have a tiny mailbox, in the hopes that the mailman would just stop bringing some of it. Somehow that didn’t work.
The ones that irritates me the most are the charities that send me return address stickers. First off, I don’t like being pushed into anything. If I wanted the darn stickers, I would buy them. I don’t. I use them-why just toss them in the recycling bin? Still, I am not going to send you any money (i never have, why would I start now?) and I have return address stickers to last me a lifetime. 
How does one really get rid of this mountain of wasted paper? I try to always opt out of sharing information when the credit card company send me their privacy policy. Sometimes it can be quite a tricky matter, calling between 2 and 4 am on Tuesday or Thursday-Mountain Time. I have tried calling some of the catalog senders, and the best I have gotten is “we send that to everyone.” Yeah, I know. That is the problem. Some companies are so sure that you are gonna send away for that Obama painted quarter or silver dollar with the twin towers on it that they send me a prepaid return envelope. I sent it back empty. They have to pay for getting it back, and it is my belief that it is their surcharge for wasting the paper in the first place. They never learn, I still get them.
That is why I love the group ForestEthics. They are working to save the world’s forests. They have published a study that indicates that junk mail produces the equivalent emissions of 9 million cars. They want it stopped, and so do I. They are making corporations accountable for their actions and rating them on their policies. Check out the Naughty & Nice list. They have started a petition to start a US Do Not Mail Registry. If you are like me, then you are already listed on the do not call registry. Amazingly enough, it works. In the past couple of years, I have only gotten one telemarketer call. Politicians, charities are not included, nor are the surveys that I opt into. I love it! No more screening my calls. No more jumping out of the shower to grab that call that is some guy trying to sell me carpet cleaning. Just think, you could be free from all that crap that you don’t look at anyway. The mailman will love you for lighteneing his load. The recyclers will have less to pick up. Less trees will have to be cut down. It is a win/win. Some print media makers may end up out of work, but I am willing to take that risk. I mean, direct mail is considered successful if it gets 4-5% response. Reason enough for them to consider another line of work!
I urge everyone to sign this petition. Go here and sign it. It only takes a minute, and it costs nothing. Unless you like opening junk mail, in which case stop by on Fridays and I will give you mine.
The Direct Marketing Association does offer an opt-out service, although they also fight do not mail legislation.
Thanks Kevin, I had tried to register for the opt out program at DMA. I couldn’t get it to work. I tried again just now and still can’t seem to sign in. Still, from what I understand, you have to keep all your junk mail and tell them what you want to keep getting and what you don’t. They only have agreements with members, so I wonder how effective they can be. Besides, if one of their members continues to mail me, is it up to me to monitor them and report it and see if that helps? What is the fall back, if they continue? Seems like a lot of work for me and probably everyone else too. Has anyone had success with them? Furthermore, they say they can help with email spam, but the must not be good at it, as the sign up process requires a alpha-numeric sign in to block spammer bots. I also checked out the link to why they fight mail legislation. They say that direct mail helped to contribute to 686 billion in increased sales that would all disappear. That there are no hard facts concerns me. Furthermore, when you click through on the site, you see that changed to 686 billion in economic activity (meaning all the people making the mail too) again with no facts to back it up. Next they bewail the loss of jobs to the sector that creates junk mail. Sorry but saving a dying industry is no reason to chop down trees and create mail with a 4-5 % result. They argue a convenient marketplace for consumers, but I say convenient for some at the expense of many. They claim it helps fund the postal service. Sorry, but less mail will make the USPS more efficient and thus in need of less funding. THe advantages of direct mail are discussed, but I simply disagree. Creative marketing is rapidly replacing direct mail and its inability to reach the target market. They say that there is no need for legislation, because there are ways to opt out of most mailings. Again, I cry foul. I get little relief from contacting companies, and as I just mentioned the DMA site doesn’t even seem to work. The entire argument is bogus, as it states that it is easy to quit getting junk mail. If that were true, I wouldn’t have written this post! Lastly, they say that the USPS keeps shipping pricing in check by being cheap and reliable and forcing competition to be as well. This point again relies on the USPS needing junk mail to stay afloat. A fact not in evidence. I do not trust anyone who tries to convince people not to create legislation that benefits the public, by using fallacious statements and poor logic. I still want no junk mail and I still want everyone to sign the petition.
Kevin-
There are also some other junk mail stoppage sites. Truevert is one. Have you or anyone else had luck with those? I would be happy to stop getting the weekly ads and gold clipper coupon book.
I don’t have any interesting first-hand insights about stopping junk mail, but the friendly folks at the Solid Waste District have some good advice. The Direct Marketing Association used to charge a $1.00 fee to consumers who wanted to be removed from their lists, but I’m not certain if that’s still true.
I finally got in and was able to set up an account with DMA. I managed to opt out of magazine, catalogs and other offers. Now in three months we shall see what happens…
There is some great advice at Solid Waste. Thanks Kevin.
So much paper goes to waste, it is such a shame.