Paper
Factoids
By reducing the amount of junk mail you recieve each year, you personally save two trees and prevent some 92 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the air. |
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In the USA, the production and disposal of junk mail consumes more energy than 2.8 million cars. |
Junk Mail - How to fight back
Contact any or all of these marketers to slow the incoming flood of junk mail to a trickle.
Credit Card/Insurance Offers
This is the information for the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry - it covers Equifax, TransUnion, Novus, and Experian.
Direct Marketing Association
Send written request, full name, address and signature.
Valassis Advertising - "Red Plum" package - includes weekly grocery store circulars
Online:http://www.advo.com/consumersupport.html
Local Values (SD Union Tribune) - includes CVS, Sav-on and Longs circulars
Online: http://www.signonsandiego.com/marketplace/lcv/
Call: 1-619-293-1544
Val-Pak Coupons- in the blue envelope
Online: http://www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm
Call: 1-888-797-1896
Info USA- a large provider of marketing lists
Mail: |
Info USA
ATTN Consumer Request
1020 E. 1st St.
Papillion, NE 68046 |
Call: |
1-888-633-4402 |
Must send written request, name, full address, and phone number.
Pennysaver/Potpourri Classifieds
| Mail: |
Circulation
c/o Pennysaver
2830 Orbiter St.
Brea, CA 92821-6624 |
Call: |
1-800-422-4116 |
Send written request, full name, and address.
Catalog Mailings
Monitor which catalogs you receive:
www.catalogchoice.org Registration is required, and it's a free service.
When writing to these companies, indicate the following: "Please remove my name and address from your mailing lists and do not rent, sell, or trade my name or address." Be sure to include any and all misspellings of your name, and all the names at your address.
More Options
When giving your name and address on a form: add "please do not rent, sell or trade my name or address" next to the information you are providing. Some examples of these forms are: warranty cards, subscriptions, raffles, customer information cards, etc. Use these magic words again when you're ordering over the phone, as you place your order.
When you recieve unwanted publications in your mail: call the 1-800 number found somewhere on the mail and request to be removed from their mailing list. They will need information from the address label, so have this in hand as well. If you can't find a number to call, return the address label to their address, requesting that they remove your name and address from their mailing list.
If you recieve products you didn't order (AOL disks come to mind), you can write "refused, return to sender" on the unopened envelope if:
Return service requested,
Forwarding service requested,
Address service requested, or
Change service requested
is listed on the envelope. Then drop it back in the mail. This also applies to mail sent to "current resident" or "current occupant" - as long as any of those phrases are there, or if the mail is sent first class.
This information courtesy of: www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/index.cfm and www.recyclestuff.org/junkmail.asp I re-phrased and blended some of the information to make it easier to use.
There is another website that, for a fee, wll do a ot of this for you: www.greendimes.com
Shredding
Most junk mail can just be thrown in the recycle bin, but do make sure that credit card offers, insurance offers, etc. get pulled for shredding. Name and address is a matter of public record, so you don't necessarily need to shred that info, but it's up to you. Identity theft is a terrible ordeal to go through, so be cautious, and don't recycle anything that you feel is private information. Better safe than sorry. If you don't own one, a very practical organizing tool is a good quality shredder that can handle credit cards and CD's as well. If you have boxes and boxes of papers to shred, Goodwill can help. They will shred documents for $5.00 per filing box. If you have 20 or more boxes, they'll come pick it up for free - the pick up that is. You still pay $5.00 per box for shredding. It's a very reasonable cost for such a task. Once your big "shred-out" is done, a home shredder should be able to handle the job.
Reduce |
Reuse |
Recycle |
Redesign |