Learn to Live More Sustainably – One Step at-a-time
We usually think of junk mail as a minor inconvenience – crowding our mailboxes with solicitations that we don’t need or want – but for the environment, it’s much more than that. Check out these stats:
- In 2015, households received 78.7 billion pieces of advertising mail, 62 percent of the total mail received.
- That’s 629 pieces of mail for each US household.
- In 2017, 34.2% (over 26,000 tons) of paper used in the US was discarded as trash.
Sources:
- United States Postal Service. The Household Diary Study: Mail Use and Attitudes in FY 2015.
- Statisica.com The Statistics Portal, US Number of Households
- American Forest and Paper Association. Statistics: Paper and Paperboard Recovery.
Think there’s nothing you can do about junk mail? Think again. You can, with a few simple steps, reduce it considerably. And the environment will thank you!
1). Get your name added to the top two national “do not mail” lists: DirectMail.com and Direct Marketing Association
2). “Opt out” of unsolicited credit card offers, either for five years or permanently, on the OptOutPrescreen.com website.
3). “Opt out” of catalogs that that you do not want – just call the toll-free number on the catalog. Or, use CatalogChoice, a non-profit that offers a service to do this for you. Are you getting a lot of catalogs from companies you never ordered from? When you order something from a catalog, your name and address is likely given to Abacus, an alliance of mostly catalog and publishing companies. To have your information removed from Abacus, contact them with your name (including any middle initial), current address,, and previous address if you moved recently. Abacus can be reached either via e-mail or by mail (Abacus, Inc,. PO Box 1478, Broomfield, CO 80038).
4). Set up all your bills to be paid automatically. Once done, you won’t have to remember to pay them, and you’ll save on stamps!
Once you’ve done it, you’ll marvel at how easy it was, and wonder why it took you so long!
Learn more about other easy ways to live more sustainably on our Green Tips – Here’s How page
Check out information about our GO GREEN Needham campaign and about ways that you can participate – taking steps to reduce your junk mail is a “Zero Waste” action on this page – get started with your plan to “GO GREEN”!
Great post! This is just what I was looking for! You do need to register for some of these things, but it will be worth it, not having to sort through piles of junk mail every day! Thank you #GoGreen Needham!