Cutting Back on Junk Mail
Have you ever imagined the amount of paper that is used by companies to send out flyers, catalogs, and solicitations to millions of homes across the country? On a daily basis?
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 44 percent of all junk mail is thrown away without being opened. This amounts to 4 million tons of waste each year. And this doesn’t even account for the waste phone books — and duplicate phone books — generate. With three to five different directories delivered to each residence per year, about 8 lb of paper, the amount of waste staggers the mind.
You can put a halt to both junk mail and telephone books from being delivered to your residence, and here’s how:
Go to the Direct Marketing Association’s website (dmachoice.org) and submit a request to opt-out from thousands of direct mailers. You’ll be able to discontinue delivery of catalogs, credit offers, and magazine offers, among other types of mailings.
To opt out of phone book delivery, you’ll need to call the individual organizations that generate the directories:
Verizon (Superpages/Idearc): (800) 888-8448 (option 2)
AT&T/Yellow Pages (SBC/Bell South): (800) 848-8000 (option 1); for Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, or Texas call (800) 792-2665
Yellow Book: (800) 373-3280
Dex Yellow Pages: (877) 243-8339
Recommended reading: Inhabitat.com: GREEN RANT: Stop Sending Me Phone Books!
