STOP
UNWANTED JUNK MAIL
The
"junk mail" Americans receive daily could produce enough energy to
heat 250,000 homes for a day.
BACKGROUND.
We
don't usually think of unwanted mail as an environmental hazard‑just a
nuisance. But if you saved up all the unwanted paper you'll receive in the mail
this year, you could have the equivalent of 1‑ 1/2 trees. And so could
each of your neighbors. That adds up to as much as 100 million trees every
year.
DID
YOU KNOW
Americans
receive almost 4 million tons of "junk mail" every year.
About
44% of that mail is never even opened or read.
According
to recent research, the average American spends 8 months of his or her life
just opening "junk mail."
If
only 100,000 families stopped their "junk mail," we could save up to
150,000 trees every year. If a million people did, we could save up to 1.5
million trees.
SIMPLE
THINGS TO DO
Write
to: Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, 6 East 43rd St., New
York, NY 10017. This is a service provided by the mail order industry to let
firms know you want your name removed from their mailing lists. They send out
names every 6 months, so it may take a while. It could reduce your junk mail up
to 75%; on the other hand, it may not reduce the mail at all, since compliance
is voluntary.
Write
to the non‑profit groups you contribute to. Ask them not to rent or
exchange your name with other organizations.
Recycle
the junk mail you already get: it's printed on newsprint, toss it in with the
newspapers. if it's quality paper, make a separate pile for it‑many
recycling centers accept both white and colored paper.