The Challenge Of Getting Rid of Junk Mail

Getting to paperless is a long trek. Logging in to every site, coming up safe passwords, changing them after every hack. Several years ago, I collected all the junk mail from Citi and Southwest Airlines. At the end of the year I  mailed it back to the CEO and asked them to take me off the list. Did it work? No. That said, I have made it my year goal to eliminate Junk Mail. This is not just about saving trees, it is about security, it is about being able to go away and not have to worry about the mail, is is about simplifying my life and most importantly about zero waste and junk mail is my #1 piece of trash.

I just gotta Eco Ya

• Junk Mail Kills 100 Million Trees Every Year.
• Junk Mail Produces 1 Billion Pounds of Landfill Each Year
• 28 Billion Gallons of water are wasted due to junk mail.
• Every year, American households receives a total of 104.7 billion pieces of junk mail, or 848 pieces of junk mail per household, which requires 6.5 million tons of paper
• 44% of junk mail goes to the landfill unopened.
• $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of junk mail each year.
• Transporting junk mail costs $550 million a year.
• in 2010, the Postal Service found it was actually closer to a 1:2 ratio, with First-Class Mail bringing in $34 billion while mail termed “Advertising” brought in $17.3 billion. (Source)

The first thing I am going to do is collect for a month all the junk mail received and then start going throughout the mail to get the opt- outs going through Catalogue Choice. I will make a list of the local companies such as realtors and restaurants to send a letter to them to opt out. After the 3-6 months it takes to filter down, then I will start the next step which is the leftover pieces of junk mail, from schools, colleges, grocery stores and send them a separate letter.  I figure it will take about a year to get an empty mailbox.