In choosing my second topic for this blog, I consulted my list of ways I would like to see my husband go green. However, the topic I selected wasn’t on my list at all. This is something that I have always frustrated me, but I just never did anything about. I had come across this link that gives stats and a visual description of how much companies use to produce those junk catalogs that we don’t even look at anyways. Also as Ben said, 41 pounds of junk mail is what an average person receives a year, most of which we don’t even look at. This is what made me want to take action, once and for all.
Many people argue that you can just recycle the catalogs that you receive instead of throwing them away. But I have a better idea. Removing your name from mailing lists not only saves the forests that are cut down, the oil extracted and water needed to produce these catalogs, but it will also save you “70 hours a year” while sorting through junk mail. Now I work at a company that sends out catalogs to customers each year, so I understand how it works. You purchase from one company; they can then sell your name to other catalog companies.
There are many resources out there now to remove your name from mailing lists. I am new at this but so far I have signed up at DMAchoice.org, and catalogchoice.com. These websites seem easy to navigate and user friendly. I have yet to encounter a problem. Throughout the year we will keep tabs on what type of junk mail we get and remove our names from their mailing lists. I think that one year of this will mean many more years of junk mail freedom.
