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Aren’t we supposed to be a paperless society by now?

Here is a quick list that should be very helpful for anyone in the US: 5 Ways To Stop the barrage of junk mail into your life

We’re all completely over receiving junk mail, print catalogs we didn’t subscribe to. I did a little peeking around and came up with this list. These are keyed off of ideas from the great Junkbusters and others.

1. Tell the Direct Marketing Association that you don’t want unsolicited mail from their member companies. There is a $1.00 fee, but the great Junkbusters has also included a form complaint letter that is tailored to this cause.

2. Say it loud: “Don’t rent or share my name!”. Organizations share, rent or sell information quite often. Make sure that any you work with keep yours out of this cycle.

When ordering, buying, donating or otherwise providing your personal details, confirm that your information will not be shared in any way with other companies or organizations. Refer to their updated privacy policy for confirmation (all are required to have one).

3. Try Catalog Choice a free service that helps you unsubscribe from unwanted print catalogs.

4. Get serious: if you get truly annoyed with solicitations mailed to you by any company, you can issue a “prohibitory order (PDF link) ” against them. What is this? According to wikipedia,

A Prohibitory Order is a legal instrument issued by the United States Postal Service, against a mailer, on request of a recipient. Its effect is to criminalize any further attempt by that particular mailer to contact that particular recipient by United States Mail. In addition, it demands that the mailer delete immediately the names of the particular recipient from all mailing lists owned or controlled by the mailer or his agents or assigns and, further, prohibits the mailer and his agents or assigns from the sale, rental, exchange, or other transaction involving mailing lists bearing the names of the particular recipient. It is requested by filing United States Postal Service Form 1500, either with a local Postmaster, or directly with the Prohibitory Order Processing Center.

5. Take it to all of the offenders. Check out this excellent resource on Junkbusters.

Saving yourself from having to deal with junk mail is only half of the story. The amount of paper wasted from print catalogs every year is staggering. The numbers are inexact, but according to Greenhab:

* More than 100 million trees worth of bulk mail arrive in American mail boxes each year.
* In 2005, 5.8 million tons of catalogs and junk mail ended up in the solid waste system. That’s enough to fill over 450,000 garbage trucks.
* The production and disposal of direct mail consumes more energy than 3 million cars.

For more information, check out
Junkbusters
New American Dream