Paper Waste-Kicking Out the Junk Mail Salesperson


Why is getting the mail anymore such a chore?! Getting the mail is like working in a mail room-I have to sort all of the trash from what is actually important mail, only I am not getting paid to do it! Perhaps I should bill all of these advertising companies for the time it takes me to go through all the garbage they stuff into my mailbox! Seriously, like many others, every day I find my mail box jammed full of unwanted advertisements, credit card offers, catalogs, etc. I almost need a crowbar to pry it all out!  Like many Americans, I generate enough trash on my own-I don’t need help stuffing my garbage and recycling bins with more!
According to a CBS News report, Americans receive more than 90 billion pieces of mail each year! Most of this intrusive mail is composed of advertisements that we never asked for (about 59% of the mail you receive!). This amounts to 50 million tons of junk mail that ends up as household waste every year-that is a lot of waste! Over consumption is an American trend, but the amount of mail we receive far exceeds our consumption needs and wants-how many laptops and weight loss machines does one household really need?

So why is opening the mail box is like walking onto a used car lot where you just can’t get away from the pushy salesperson?  Believe it or not, the companies that generate this garbage really believe that we want it! How can we escape being inundated with all of this trash and reduce the amount of paper we throw away? We can start by “opting-out”. There are several organizations that help keep this waste out of your mail box and garbage bin by preventing unwanted mail, phone books, and other forms of waste from ever arriving-all you have to is sign up. The following links can help you kick these intruders out of your mailbox, home, and trash bin. You can further reduce paper waste in your home by opting for paperless billing. Many service providers today have this option-all you have to do is sign up for it with the provider(s) you use. This saves a significant amount of time any money for all parties and reduces the amount of paper waste generated in households across the country.

Help reduce the amount of paper waste you throw away by going to the following sites and opting out.
To say “good bye” rather than “good buy!” to ads you don’t need or want go to:
Don’t need all of those expensive glossy catalogs? Go to:
https://www.catalogchoice.org/

To keep that bulky phone book from arriving-don’t chase the poor person tossing it on your door step down the street-opt out at:
http://www.ypassociation.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Environmental1&Template=/CustomSource/ZipSearch.cfm

Calling 1-888-5-OPTOUT will stop the credit card offers from arriving to your mailbox and reduce the risk of your identity being jacked.
Sources:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/10/earlyshow/contributors/susankoeppen/main20061441.shtml

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