Hocking Hills, OH –
Last week's green tip was a preview of how to slow down your junk mail. This week's green tip will begin to detail how to remove your name, personal and business information from marketing lists, data brokers, and other organizations.
On a daily basis our names, personal and business information are being collected, bought and sold by thousands of businesses without our consent! When you move, buy a house or car, apply for a credit card, swipe your shopper card, subscribe to a magazine, buy from a catalogue, give to a charity or fill out a product registration card, you are in the junk mail trap.
Honestly, it is impossible to eliminate all of the junk mail, but by taking the steps below, you greatly reduce the flow and give the planet a little break. As mentioned last week, it does take time, so you have to be patient. Most of these steps will help reduce the flow for about 3-5 years, so after a point, you will have to act again. Here are some important stats to help motivate you into action:
1. At least 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail. Of this mail, is thrown away or unopened. The rate of response is less than 2%. With increasing CO2 and global warming, we can't afford to lose those trees to junk mail. Remember: trees clean the CO2 causing global warming.,
2. An estimated $320 million dollars of local taxes are used to dispose of junk mail annually. WOW!
3. An estimated $550 million dollars per year is used in transporting junk mail.
4. The average adult spends 70 hours per year dealing with junk mail. Another estimate indicates that an average person will lose 8 months of their life dealing with junk mail. No wonder why it drives me crazy!
5. $56 billion is spent to produce and distribute junk mail.
6. Recycling is great, but it won't bring back the extinct species.
For email users, google, "remove from junk mail" and a list of organizations will come up with the process for being removed from mailing lists at no charge. One organization that I have been using this year is ProQuo at www.proquo.com. This site is easy to navigate. Some companies require that you send a letter via mail. Others will permit you to email them to be removed. ProQuo sends email reminders of what lists you are still on and what action you need to take. This free service also helps you find offers that truly match your interests and needs. Initially, all of this took me a few hours time. I just sat down one night and did it. Another method is to send a couple of letters or emails per week.
If you don't have the time or patience for doing the legwork yourself, you are in luck, because you can hire it out! There are two wonderful organizations that, for a small fee, will go through the process of removing you from junk mailing lists. One organization is called 41 Pounds.org , www.41pounds.org. For just $41, they will remove you from mailing lists for 5 years (1/3 of this fee goes to a community group that you choose). Another helpful organization is called GreenDimes, Inc., www.greendimes.org, offering two options: a free service that removes you from some basic listings and a premium service ($20/year) that removes you from most lists and plants 5 trees on your behalf.
41 pounds.org
1-866-417-4141
298 W. Saratoga Ferndale, MI 48220
GreenDimes, Inc.
480 Lytton Avenue Suite 8
Palo Alto, CA 94301
If you can't take immediate action due to the holiday bustle (or, if you're in hibernation mode), do the following. Save this article and put it in your calendar for January as a New Year's Resolution or pay one of the organizations above a small fee to have them start the process right away for you. A great holiday gift would be to buy the service for someone. Reducing junk mail takes a little step from all of us, but a step that is critical in turning our ship in the right direction. Next week's green tip will provide details for those who don't use email.
Byline Bio: Gwen Corbett, Bear's Den Cottages
www.bearsdencottages.com, Green Lodging
Helping Individuals and Businesses To Go Green