Me Vs. The Mail

My pile of mail upon returning from my two week vacation. Not bad at all!

A while back, I blogged on ways to reduce your mail. So much of it is a waste of trees, of resources (even if it's recycled paper, its production is still having an impact), of money, and of our time.

Credit card offers received in the mail? Zero. After dialing an opt-out number: 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) that I found on New American Dream, I have not received a single solicitation. I have all the credit cards I need, and besides, I pay cash as much as possible.

Animal rights literature: minimal. I've taken a pro-active stand to e-mail the groups I contribute to and ask them to not share my address and when desired, ask they only contact me once a year for membership renewal. For new unwanted solicitations, I e-mail them to not share my name and remove me from their list. It's wonderful there are so many worthwhile groups to give to, but I cannot give to them all, and I don't want to waste their resources or my time.

Donating this holiday season to an animal rights or other charitable organization? This is one of my favorite gift ideas, but don't give your recipient the gift of junk mail. When you contribute, ask that they not share the address of the person you are contributing on behalf of. Once a person's information is out there, it takes a lot of effort to reclaim one's privacy.

Bills? Go online. Save postage, even though minimal, around $5 a year per each monthly bill, but just as important: save time not having to deal with all those paper statements.

Catalogs: zero. I long ago called companies I was receiving catalogues from to remove me from their list.

Magazines: I get one, VegNews. After my subscription runs out, I'm not renewing it. I think purchasing a subscription for a local library is a better option. Libraries are a fun and frugal source for most of your magazine and newspaper needs.

Arrived: the Yellowbook. I saw multiple copies go straight to the recycling bin. To be removed from delivery, click here.

Tired of all those 20% off Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons turning up? Me too. Remove yourself from their list here.

With a little effort, my war on my incoming mail is succeeding. While I'll never be at zero percent, I feel a ting of satisfaction when I arrive home and see no mail. Incidentally, I have little use for all those address labels I've received in the past from charitable organizations. I have enough labels to last until I'm 90.

Declaring War on Junk Mail

Advocating for a better world for animals includes not only their treatment, but the environment they - and we - live in. One of the needless ways we destroy the environment: junk mail. A waste of trees, money, and our time.

Here are some startling facts from ForestEthics:
*More than 100 billion pieces of junk mail, nearly 900 pieces per household, arrive in American mailboxes each year.
*Junk mail in U.S. accounts for about 30% of all the mail delivered in the world and more than 100 million trees a year are cut down to produce it. Almost half of it goes to landfills unopened.
*It takes the equivalent of 290,000 garbage trucks to dump unrecycled junk mail into landfills and incinerators each year.
Check out ForestEthics' Youtube Channel.

What can you do?
Sign ForestEthic's petition to support a Do Not Mail Registry. Learn more about the campaign here.

New American Dream gives tips on reducing your junk mail.

When you receive an unwanted catalogue, take a few minutes to call the 800 number to be removed from their list. Unfortunately, this takes time out of all of our busy schedules, but this will put a dent into your junk mail.

A fellow friend of animals who runs a blog called "On Loving Animals" recently bemoaned in one of his posts the number of mail he receives from animal advocacy groups. I'm glad I'm not the only one whose noticed this.

In an "after the fact" move, I decide to check out the privacy policies of some of the groups I support. The wording of their privacy policies vary, but they all essentially say the same thing: they share your personal mailing address with other groups:
Humane Society of the U.S. Opt-out: e-mail humanesociety@hsus.org.
PETA Opt-out: e-mail Donations@peta.org or call at 757-622-7382.
Farm Sanctuary Add your name to their do-not-share list, e-mail info@farmsanctuary.org or call 607-583-2225 ext. 221.
ASPCA Opt-out: email: website@aspca.org, or call 800-628-0028

Check out privacy policies before you give, and if you do not want your name shared, let the group know. In my case, I feel frustratingly that my information is now out there, so I now have to spend more time e-mailing groups to not send me any more solicitations.

If you only want to be contacted once a year, make sure you tell them, otherwise a stream of letters will undoubtedly arrive asking for more.