Cut Junk Mail to Cut CO2 Emissions

Cut junk mail to cut CO2 emissions

How much mail do you receive each day?  Now, how much of it do you really need?  Did you know that you can cut junk mail to cut CO2 emissions?

You are probably thinking…. Oh yes, I know that paper is made from trees and we should use less and recycle more, etc., etc.  But let’s consider the real impact of the amount of junk mail that ends up in mailboxes in the United States alone.

Here are the cold hard facts (source Native Forest Network):

• Each family receives 11 pieces of junk mail a day
• Multiply that by 6 days of mail delivery (minus some holidays) and that totals 560 items per year, per household
• More than 304 billion people live in the U.S. (per Google)
• An estimated 4.5 million pounds of junk mail is delivered annually
• More than 40% of that paper ends up in landfills – in other words, recycling efforts are weak.
• 100 million trees are cut down to make paper for junk mail each year
• Just one percent (1 million trees) could otherwise offset 48 million pounds of CO2 emissions
• Given that a single vehicle produces 10,000 pounds of CO2 emissions a year, saving 100 million trees from the junk mail heap would result in the equivalent of taking 480,000 cars off the road – nearly 1/2 million vehicles!

I’m tired of tossing catalogs and credit card offers into my recycle bin each day.  I’m going to stop thinking about it and actually take action today!

Cut it out!

Here’s how can you cut junk mail to cut CO2 emissions.  Its quite easy.  All you need is a phone and/or Internet connection.  We already know you have a mailbox!

1. Stop unsolicited credit offers by calling 888-567-8688, or going to www.optoutprescreen.com.
2. Send a postcard to the Direct Marketing Association with your name, address and signature to: Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512, requesting that you not receive any unsolicited catalogs or other marketing materials.  You can also download a form at www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglistdave.
3. Some companies do not participate in the Direct Marketing Association program and must be contacted directly – by phone is best – call customer service – but you may want to write using an enclosed business reply envelope.
4. If you have applied for a warranty for a small appliance or consumer good, you’ll also end up on lists that are used to generate direct marketing.  Get your name removed by sending a request to National Demographics & Lifestyles, NDL List Order Services, 1621 18th Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80202.
5. To  remove your name from nationwide sweepstakes mailers, call Publishers Clearing house at (800) 645-9242; Readers Digest at (800) 234-9000 and American Family Publishers at (800) 237-2400.

A catchy little tune, but the paper man created from the junk mail in that last video is a bit scary.  In fact, just looking into my huge recycle bin, I can imagine an entire army of junk mail people created from it each year.

No more!  I just made a few phone calls to cut my junk mail.  Time invested:  about 1/2 hour.  Feel good factor – even better than bringing in reuseable grocery bags to the store.

Will you join me in the effort?