Tip of the Week
Shed 41 Pounds
Do you dream of an uncluttered mail box? One containing only letters and packages that you may actually open and look at? I'm fed up with junk mail, so much so that I'm ruthless about what I bring into the house and what gets thrown out unopened after split-second scrutiny.
My vigilance may mean less waste paper getting in my house, but it doesn't reduce the mental anguish every afternoon when I paw through the pile outside my door. And it really is a pile - 41 pounds per adult a year. Besides the environmental implications - 44% of mail goes to the dump unopened - there are several other important drawbacks: your personal security - the Better Business Bureau recommends that you shred all credit card information as well as insurance offers; your money - most cities pay for waste disposal by the pound and bulk mail is the primary content of your garbage, and your time - it is estimated the average person spends 8 hours a year dealing with unwanted mail solicitations.
I'm sure you have heard of ways to reduce junk mail, but have you heard of a new organization, 41pounds.org? When you subscribe for just $41, they promise to eliminate 80-95% of unsolicited mailings coming to your door for the next 5 years. There's work involved, but not a lot, and they'll help you every step of the way. Like a weight loss program, they say you'll see a noticeable drop off within two months, and after 4 months, your bulk mail should be reduced by 80-95%.
I've signed up and invite you all to sign up too. For information and to subscribe, click here. The service can also be used as an educational fundraising tool for schools, clubs and religious organizations. You can even support The Green Guide by telling them we referred you! What a difference we all could make, and what a welcome relief from mountains of wasted paper we'll be bringing to ourselves and the planet.
© The Green Guide, 2008
Discuss this blog
posted by debhin on 2006-07-26 11:37:30
I, too, was tired and upset with all the junk mail I was recycling, especially unsolicited catalogs that may have come from companies I did order from sharing my info to others. I try to remember to tell them or write if there is a comments box, not to share my info.
My recent solution (well I actually started this before the holidays last year) was to collect the back pages of cataloges I do not want to receive (and there were a lot of them). I spent a few minutes a day online, going to the companys' websites, finding "contact Us" which is usually at the bottom and may be hard to find! I set up a file in Word so I could copy and paste the message (which helped speed up the process) that says I want to be removed from their mailing list and then give my name and address the way it appears on the catalog. I started out giving them the account number and/or catalog number but they didn't need that.
Responses were pretty consistent, two and 1/2 months should eliminate most catalogs. They said they had a least two mailings ordered ahead so I might receive one to two more before they stop.
This was a major undertaking but should be worth it. I have been recycling for years and it hurts to see all this waste.
posted by pfletch on 2006-07-27 02:44:43
For all those insurance and credit card offers, i just stuffed their information into their postage free (to me) envelopes and mailed them back with "Remove from all your lists" in red above my name and address. I also kept track of the companies to whom i returned those bulging envelopes. The next time, i added "2nd Notice - 3rd notice will go to the State Atty Gen'l." Never had a 3rd notice.
Did this when each of my parents died, and again when i moved. Works very well.
Does anyone know how to eliminate those weekly flyers full of sales ads and coupons i never use?
posted by missluckytoes on 2006-07-27 08:41:52
I've done the same process to eliminate much of the junk mail. Unfortunately there are two places I still have problems. One is the advertisements that the Post Office says it "must" deliver because it's paid to deliver them. The other is that even though I called a number I found to opt out of mortgage advertisements, those are still coming, more than a year later. There are some catalogs also that don't seem to be able to stop their mailing no matter how many times I request it. Any suggestions?
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