You may have already put your name in opt-out forms and have called
companies to be removed from their lists. Consider adding your old
addresses to opt-out forms. It is something that is often over looked.
You move away and have your mail forwarded case closed..... well you
junk mail is not being forwarded. At my last house I not only added my
old address to opt -out forms but added the previous owners to the
opt-out forms ( I was getting their junk mail at my new house - they
left and thought that their mail would follow - not junk mail). Not
convinced, identity theft is on the rise, who is getting credit card
offers in your name?
Finally, add your business address (old and new) to opt-out of junk mail.
Pictures from Native Forest Network Guide
Quick Junk Mail Facts From Native Forest Network Guide
The average person gets only 1.5 personal letters each week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail.
Each person will receive almost 560 pieces of junk mail this year.
That's 4.5 million tons of junk mail produced each year!
44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread.
Approximately 40% of the solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste.
By the year 2010, it is predicted to make up about 48%.
100 million trees are ground up each year to produce junk mail.
Lists of names and addresses used in bulk mailings are in mass data-collection networks, compiled from phone books, warranty cards, and charity donations (to name a few).
Your name is typically worth 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold.
Here are some resources:
Ecological Mail Coalition: This is a free service that will remove old employees from mailing lists. You can also use it to remove your name from any company you worked.
Direct Marketing Association: Here you can remove your name, family members names, and old tenants/owners from mailing lists. I also use it to remove my name and family member's names from our old addresses. You can also remove: your email address, telephone number, and get off of credit card offers lists. I have found this to eliminate a huge amount of junk mail. This costs $1.00 per name and address- I think it is a bargain for the service.
Finally, I would like to add that my company Go Natural Baby does not do paper mailings to our consumers. Customers can add their name to our email mailing list, but we rarely send out those either. I personally find it annoying when a company sends me an email every week and in some cases twice a week! Our customers, who opt-in to our email list can expect less than 10 emails per year!
Let's start the New Year off with less Junk,
Justyn LeDrew
Organic Baby Clothes
