What to do with all that junk mail?
Each day we open our mailbox and are faced with unwanted credit card offers, coupons, advertisements, solicitations for money and the list goes on. Junk mail not only costs us beautiful trees but it wastes and eats up our time. Instead of sitting back and doing nothing, we can take active steps to stop receiving so much junk mail and most importantly stop the waste.
The Illinois Recycling Association tells us that Americans throw away enough office and writing paper each year to build a wall twelve-feet high stretching from New York City to Los Angeles. Why not stop the paper from coming into our homes before we need to recycle it. Of course, unwanted mail is sometimes inevitable, but below are some simple ways to start combating it, informational websites to visit and numbers to call.
- Product warranty cards are not always necessary. Don’t fill those out and return them unless it’s absolutely necessary.
- Call the numbers on the back of 2 or 3 credit cards you use most frequently. Ask them not to sell your name and not to send you offers in the mail.
- Don’t enter contests while in the mall or at sporting events. They’re sure to send you mail you don’t want.
- If you receive First class mail and do not want it, circle the first class postage on the envelope, write “refused: return to sender” on the outside and drop it in a mailbox. It will be returned because of its postage class.
- To stop credit card offers dial 1-888-5-OPT OUT.
- To stop catalogs you’ll never order from, call the company’s 800 number and have the label handy.
- Want to stop the Value Pak Coupons? Call 1- 888-797-1896
After reading all those resources, you may be thinking- That’s great Amber but I don’t have time to make all those calls and visit all those websites. Well, I agree. I don’t either. However we all have time to make one call, once a day. If it’s a priority to you, have your goal be just that- one call, once a day. At the end of a few weeks you will have done amazing things for you, your mailbox and the trees. And in 1-3 months, you’ll start saving that time and space because your mail will be a lot less.
