Environment - Step 3: Eliminate Junk Mail!

I absolutely hate junk mail! I get so much in the mail that it has become a part-time job just to sort through it and recycle it. I've always wanted to get rid of it, but wasn't sure how - then, I found a few different environmental sites which provide junk mail elimination services. I was so excited!! The first site is Catalog Choice (http://www.catalogchoice.org/). Catalog Choice allows users to eliminate all unwanted catalogs from their mailbox for FREE! All you need to do is create an account, individually select the catalogs that you would like to cancel, and let Catalog Choice do the rest. You can even eliminate catalogs still being delivered to past residents. If the catalog that you need eliminated isn't listed on the site, you can request that they add it - they will contact the company to see if they are willing to be added to the list. And did I mention that this is all done for FREE!! So, everyone out there, even if you don't have any spare money to sign up for some of the other services that I'm going to mention, please, oh PLEASE, sign up for this service!

Now, Catalog Choice is great, but it only eliminates catalogs, which is only a fraction of my junk mail problem. I swear, I get about 3 credit card offers every day, plus solicitations from non-profits that I will never donate money to. I was wondering what to do about this problem when Oprah (man, you gotta love her) gave me the answer. She recently had a rerun of her Earth Day show (for more details, go to http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200704/tows_past_20070420.jhtml), during which she played a clip of Matt Damon recommending Green Dimes (http://www.greendimes.com/). Green Dimes offers two levels of service - Free Me ($20), which is their basic junk mail elimination service (eliminates mail for both current & past residents), and Green Me ($42 including shipping), which includes the Free Me service, plus a mini environmental starter kit of 2 CFLs, an environmental kids book by Mercer Mayer, a t-shirt, and a reusable grocery bag. By signing up for one of these services, you can eliminate up to 90% of your junk mail and have between 5 to 10 trees planted on your behalf. Right after signing up, Green Dimes gets you removed from many of the major junk mail lists and plants 5 trees for you. Then, you can request specific catalogs and non-profit solicitations be cancelled - Green Dimes will plant 5 trees for your first 5 requests (10 trees - a nice start to offsetting your annual carbon footprint).

Similar services are provided by 41Pounds (http://www.41pounds.org/). For $41, 41Pounds eliminates your junk mail for 5 years and donates approximately a 1/3 of your fee to a non-profit environmental group of your choice. The main difference between Green Dimes and 41Pounds is that 41Pounds will not cancel non-profit mail for you (which is a big reason why I decided to go with Green Dimes - not only do I hate sorting through all of the requests, but I don't want to see a non-profit waste its precious dollars on these mailings).

If you don't think junk mail is that big of a problem, get your eyes on these stats:
* 19 billion catalogs (yes, that is a 'b') are mailed out each year in the US, which uses up 53 million trees (because almost none of the catalogs utilize recycled content)
* 5.2 million tons of CO2 is released into the environment just in order to make the paper for these catalogs - that doesn't even count printing, collating, delivering, recycling, etc.
* Each US adult receives an average of 41 pounds of junk mail each year.
* $320 million of local taxes are spent to dispose of junk mail each year instead of providing parks, libraries, health care and other valuable services
(resources: Catalog Choice, 41Pounds)

In the age of the Internet, there really is no need to keep receiving catalogs and junk mail. When people need goods and services or want to donate to a special cause, they just hit the computer and search for them. Do your part - sign up for one of these services today. Not only will you help save the Earth's resources, you will also save time by not having to sort through all of that unwanted junk mail every day!

Take Care,
Kara