Eliminate Junk Mail

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Solid Waste Reduction in Western New York

If you want to reduce the amount of waste that you create, think about what you can do to minimize the waste you generate in the first place.

Eliminate Junk Mail

Facts About Junk Mail

The average person gets only 1.5 personal letters each week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail.
Each person will receive almost 560 pieces of junk mail this year. That's 4.5 million tons of junk mail produced each year!
44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread.
Approximately 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%).
100 million trees are ground up each year to produce junk mail.
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).
Your name is typically worth 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold.
To help reduce junk mail, cut down waste, and save some trees to boot, follow the 7 easy steps below.

As you begin to take action to reduce your own personal junk mail, remember to be both persistent and patient. You should notice a decrease in the amount of junk mail you receive within a month, but the removal of your name from these extensive lists takes awhile.

How to Trash Your Junk Mail and Help Save the Planet

Step 1 - The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act took effect September 30, 1997. Under one provision of the new law, consumers can call just one of the following three major national credit bureaus (they share the lists) to have their names removed from mailing lists used for unsolicited credit and insurance offers. Virtually all companies offering pre-approved credit cards use lists from these three major credit bureaus.

Equifax, PO Box 740123, Atlanta, GA 30374-0123 - Phone: (888) 567-8688
Experian (formerly TRW), Target Marketing Services Division, 12606 Greenville Ave, Dallas, TX 75243 - Phone: (800) 353-0809
TransUnion, 555 West Adams Street, Chicago, IL 60661 - Phone: (800) 680-7293

Step 2 - The Direct Marketing Association represents many mail order sales companies, and estimates that listing your name with their mail preference service will stop 75% of all national mailings coming to your home. Call or write and ask to be added to their suppression list.

D.M.A. Preference Service, Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735 - Phone: (212) 768-7277

Step 3 - Companies that do not participate in the D.M.A. program must be contacted directly. In addition, if you only want some of your junk mail stopped, contacting individual companies is the way to go. You can write to firms that send you unsolicited material and tell them firmly to stop. Be sure to use the enclosed Business Reply envelopes when replying through the mail, and address them to Customer Service. You can also call the firms' toll free numbers and ask to speak with customer service.

Step 4 - Buyers beware...you are covered under a manufacturer's warranty whether a card is returned or not. These cards are primarily used to gather names for mailing lists. Write National Demographics & Lifestyles, a firm that collects this information, to have your name removed.

NDL List Order Services, 1621 18th Street, Suite 300, Denver, CO 80202

Step 5 - To remove your name from major nationwide sweepstakes mailers, contact:

Publishers Clearinghouse, 101 Channel Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050 - Phone: (800) 645-9242
Readers Digest, Readers Digest Road, Pleasantville, NY 10570 - Phone: (800) 234-9000
American Family Publishers, PO Box 62000, Tampa, FL 33662 - Phone: (800) 237-2400

Step 6 - For more information, check out these web sites:

National Waste Prevention Coalition - www.metrokc.gov/nwpc
Consumer Research Institute - www.stopjunk.com/environment.html
Ecofuture - www.ecofuture.org/ecofuture/jnkmail.html

Step 7 - To find out more information about phone book data mailing lists, ads and coupons addressed "to the resident", and other junk mail organizations and campaigns, contact: Native Forest Network
PO Box 8251
Missoula, MT, 59807
Phone: 406-542-7343
Fax 406-542-7347
Email: nfn@wildrockies.org