Headed for your mail box expecting a Valentine from a special someone only to find junk mail? End your junk mail woes. I did with the help of our Campus Green Living Representatives. They set up a desk and lured me it. They must have seen right through me to the AWESOME hippie stage I had in the 8th grade (of which a little part has always stayed with me...still heart Cat Stevens). Anywho, I was an easy target and they suggested I do the following:1. Register for free with www.catalogchoice.org
2. Register with www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailing
3. Call and ask to be removed from credit card companies central mailing lists 1-888-5-OPTOUT
There are some other options out there but those will get you off to a great start. If the nuisance of junk mail piling up isn't convincing enough then here are some stats that might help you along.
STATISTICS;
1. Each person will receive almost 560 pieces of junk mail this year.
2. The average person gets only 1.5 personal letters each week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junkmail.
3. More than 4 million tons (62,000,000,000 (billion) pieces) of junk mail are produced yearly.
4. The majority of household waste consists of unsolicited mail.
5. California’s state and local governments spend $500,000 each year collecting and disposing
of AOL’s direct mail disks alone.
6. Individually, about 40 pounds of junk mail are sent to every adult each year. Approximately
44% goes to a landfill unopened.
7. Lists of names and addresses used in bulk mailings are in mass data-collection networks,
compiled from phone books, warranty cards, and charity donations (to name a few).
8. Your name is typically worth 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold.
9. $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of unsolicited mail each year.
10. It costs $550 million yearly to transport junk mail.
11. The production and disposal of junk mail consumes more energy than 2.8 million cars.
12. 100 million trees are ground up each year for unsolicited mail.
13. 42% of timber harvested nationwide ends up as pulpwood for paper.
14. It wastes 28 billion gallons of water for paper processing each year.
15. If you cut your bulk mail for 5 years, you’ll conserve 1.7 trees, 700 gallons of water and
prevent 460 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the air.
16. 40% of the solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste. By the
year 2010, it is predicted to make up about 48%.
17. Scarce landfill space disfigures rural areas and pollutes ground water.
18. The majority of household waste consists of unsolicited mail.
