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Junk
Mail
Listed below are
two different organizations that are making a difference when it comes to
stopping junk mail and helping our environment. Tonic Mailstopper, formerly know
as Green Dimes, and 41 Pounds are making it so convenient to stop junk mail. All
you have to do is pick a link and you’re on your way. Stopping junk mail has a
positive impact on our environment, helps to protect your identity from theft
and fraud, and cleans the clutter that ends up on our counters from the
never-ending piles of junk mail. So what are you waiting for? Make a difference
and stop the junk mail!
www.mailstopper.tonic.com
www.41pounds.org
Facts
about Junk Mail from 41pounds.org
Stop Junk Mail — a
Personal Nuisance & Environmental Hazard
• Save trees.
More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail. 42% of
timber harvested nationwide becomes pulpwood for paper.
• Reduce
global warming. The energy used to produce and dispose of junk mail exceeds 2.8
million cars.
• Save water.
About 28 billion gallons of water are wasted to produce and recycle junk each
year.
• Save time.
You waste about 70 hours a year dealing with junk mail.
Your Mailbox Today
• The pulp and
paper industry is the single largest consumer of water used in industrial
activities in developed countries, and it’s the third-largest industrial
greenhouse gas emitter (after the chemical and steel industries).
• The average
adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year (about 560 pieces). 44% goes to
the landfill unopened.
• On average,
we receive 10.8 pieces of junk mail a week, compared to only 1.5 personal
letters.
• More than 62
billion pieces (4 million tons) of junk mail are produced each year.
• The majority
of household waste consists of junk mail.
• 40% of the
solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste.
• Junk mail
inks have high concentrations of heavy metals, making the paper difficult to
recycle.
• $320 million
of local taxes are used to dispose of junk mail each year.
• California’s
state and local governments spend $500,000 a year collecting and disposing of
AOL’s direct mail disks alone.
• Transporting
junk mail costs $550 million a year.
• Lists of
names and addresses used in bulk mailings reside in mass data-collection
networks. Your name is typically worth 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold.
Your Mailbox Tomorrow
• 41pounds.org
eliminates 80-95% of junk mailings for you by contacting dozens of direct
marketers on your behalf.
• By reducing
your junk mail for 5 years, you’ll conserve 1.7 trees and 700 gallons of water,
and prevent 460 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere
— and you’ll gain about 350 hours of free time!
• By stopping
credit card offers and other junk mail, you’ll help protect your identity from
theft and fraud.
Junk
Mail Reduction
You can make a
difference. By cutting back on the amount of junk mail you receive you reduce
the need for new landfills, help save the environment, and reduce your garbage
collection bills and taxes.
(Source: Mother
Earth News)
Pollution
prevention means reducing the total amount of pollution generated at the source
and reducing the amount of junk mail you receive is one way.
The book 50
Simple Things You Can Do To Save The Earth listed stopping unwanted junk mail as
its number 2 recommendation. Some interesting junk mail statistics from the book
include:
• Each year,
100 million trees are used to produce junk mail;
• 250,000
homes could be heated with one day's supply of junk mail; and
• Americans
receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail every year.
How Do
They Get My Name And Address?
Direct mail
organizations have a variety of ways of acquiring your name and personal
information. They usually purchase lists of names from credit bureaus, credit
card companies, banks, magazine subscription lists, warranty information cards
and many other commercial services.
How Can
I Stop Junk Mail?
One of the most
effective things you can do is to write letters to mail preference services and
credit bureaus requesting that your name and address be removed from their
lists. Contact all your credit card companies and ask them not to release your
name, address, or phone number to anyone for marketing, mailing, or promotional
purposes.
Other companies
to contact include: your credit union and mortgage company, all magazines you
subscribe to, groups of which you are a member, airline frequent flyer programs,
hotel programs, cable companies, and more. Anyone who sends you a bill may sell
your name. Many of the charities we support can earn as much money selling names
and addresses as through donations. Every time you order something over the
phone, Internet, or through the mail, your name may be sold. To keep this from
happening, call or write these organizations and request a privacy designation
on your name, address and phone number. Tell them that under no circumstances
are your personal information to be sold.
Frequent buyer's
clubs at grocery stores, bookstores, wholesale clubs, etc. are also sources for
your name and buying habits. You should avoid these when possible.
Do not send in
product warranty cards unless absolutely necessary. They usually are not
required. Many of these "warranty cards" are filled with questions about your
personal interests and preferences and are usually sent to a different address
than the company you purchased the product from. Check product registrations to
see if you can opt not to receive any further mailings.
I Need
Help!
If you don't have
time to write and call all the name-selling companies, you can often find
someone to do it for you. Visit one of the following organizations:
www.mailstopper.tonic.com
www.41pounds.org
There is a fee
for this service.
Return
Junk Mail
Junk mail may be
first class or third class ("Bulk Rate"). Envelopes stamped "address correction
requested" or "return postage guaranteed" can be returned unopened to the sender
by writing "refused, return to sender" on the envelope. Only write this on bulk
mail with that special notation. For return solicitations that include postage
paid reply envelope; include a note requesting that you be removed from the
mailing list. Include the mailing label they sent to you.
The easiest way
to handle first class junk mail is to write "refused" on the envelope and mail
it back to the sender. This may prompt the sender to remove your name and
address from their mailing list. There is no cost for the addressee to refuse
first class mail. Return mail service is included with the first class postage
rate.
Where
Do I Write?
Here are some of
the top name-selling companies. Write a letter asking to be placed in their name
removal file and taken off of any telemarketing lists (don't forget to include
your phone number). If you are writing from an address that receives junk mail
to previous residents and/or other family members make sure to say, "please
cover all other addressees at this address" in your letter.
Advo Incorporated
Delivery Services
1001 W. Walnut
Street
Compton, CA
90220-5191
(310)-637-0438
Direct Marketing
Association
Attn: Customer
Service Opt Out
1120 Avenue of
the Americas
New York, NY
10036-6700
Experian Consumer
Sevices
List Maintenance
901 West Bond
Lincoln, NE 68521
infoUSA, Inc.
5711 S. 86th
Circle
Omaha, NE
68127-0347
Acxiom
Corporation
Opt-Outs
P.O. Box 2000
Conway, AR
72033-2000
Trans Union LLC
Name Removal
Option
P.O. Box 97328
Jackson, MS
39288-7328
LEXIS-NEXIS
9393 Springboro
Pike
P.O. Box 933
Dayton, OH 45401
National
Demographics & Lifestyles (generates lists from product warranty cards)
Customer Service
Department
1621 18th Street,
#300
Denver, CO 80202
(800) 525-3533
Credit Card
Offers
Write to the
address below and ask that your name be removed from prescreen and marketing
lists. This has a dramatic affect on the number of credit cards offers mailed to
your home (Include your full name and current address):
Experian Consumer
Sevices
List Maintenance
901 West Bond
Lincoln, NE 68521
You can also
contact local credit reporting agencies and ask to be taken off of their market
lists.
Remember, to
maximize the reduction of junk mail you not only have to write to the above
companies, but you should also contact every company that sends you a bill,
magazine or catalog and request privacy on your address and phone number. If
enough people take these steps, the amount of junk mail generated can be greatly
reduced.
Finally, don't
forget to recycle whenever possible!
(Source: Office of
Pollution Prevention Ohio Environmental Protection Agency) |
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