Although the environment is getting a lot of attention these days, junk mail is one of those dinosaurs that keep getting overlooked in the turning tide for a more paperless society.
It’s great to recycle your junk mail, but it’s even better to work on the source: once the direct mail is sent, somebody on the other end has to deal with it in one way or another. There are a variety of ways you can cope with a flood of junk mail, and work to reduce, recycle and reuse all of the printed paper that comes your way.
Pay Attention to Registration
One of the ways you can stop junk mail in its tracks is to be savvy about how and when the mail gets sent out. For any businesses you legitimately deal with, look for any small check boxes or other fine print where you can show your preference not to receive ‘special offers’ or other direct mail promotions.
You can also communicate with the ‘big four’. Since credit agencies have to do with a lot of the junk mail printed every year, going to resources like the OptOutPreScreen.com and un-registering yourself from the mailing lists of Equifax, Innovis, TransUnion, and Experian can make a dent in the junk mail you receive.
Get Help from Online Groups
Recently, some pretty good anti-junk mail advocates have cropped up on the web, coming to the assistance of households overwhelmed by a deluge of form letters and ads. From mailback kits to help with getting off of more mailing lists, turn to groups like Stop the Junk Mail and Green Dimes for good solutions to working with an overstuffed mailbox. You can also get the Stop the Junk Mail kit from the Consumer Research Institute to put those annoying pieces of junk mail back in circulation on their way back to the senders. You can also get “Return to Waster” postage stamps from other advocacy groups for throwing the junk mail right back into the box.
Creative Reuse
Then there’s the solution that some people get the most fun out of: reuse. Your junk mail arrives every day at your doorstep: for lots of consumers, the easiest way to deal with this ‘useless’ paper is to find a use for it. From the obvious solutions like scrap paper to other less mundane creations like art pieces, signage, or even homemade pet products, there are a lot of things you can do with junk mail to turn it from a burden into a resource.
Try any and all of these tactics to turn the flood of junk mail in your favor.
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