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.