Junk Paper Mail Opt Out

We receive too many unsolicited paper mail ads in our mailbox and it contributes to landfill pollution. Below are a few ways to opt out of the paper mess. Some take from a few days to a few weeks to opt out, but be patient and your mail box glut should diminish. In addition, you can check my blog for a few more of my opt out ideas LINK.

Catalogue and publishing companies share consumer information via Abacus. Send an email to its parent company at optout@epsilon.com. Put “remove” in the subject line and your name and address in the body of the email. Be sure to include your name as it appears on the bulk mail you receive. If your middle initial is on there, use it. If your name is misspelled, include that.

Here are a few more opt-out pages:

- Money Mailer sends big red, white and blue envelopes. If you do not want them, email your name and address to ListContactManager@moneymailer.com.

- RedPlum asks that you fill out a form on its website to put a stop to its mailings: redplum.com/tools/direct-mail-preferences.

- Valpak also offers an online opt-out form: valpak.com/coupons/show/mailinglistsuppression.

- Yellow Pages books opt out: yellowpagesoptout.com.

- Credit card and insurance offers 5 years opt out, if you use online form or permanent if you wish to use paper to mail in your signature. It is endorsed by Equifax, Innovis, Xperion, and TransUnion.: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

Impact of Junk Mail

Junk mail in the US destroys 100 million trees a year. The equivalent of deforesting all of Rocky Mountain National Park every four months.
Hundreds of millions of pieces of junk mail (also called “direct,” “bulk,” or “standard” mail) are sent through the US Postal Service annually, none of them solicited or requested by the recipient, and most of them entirely unwanted.
That mountain of credit card offers, insurance offers, catalogs, flyers, coupons, phone books, and anything else you did not specifically ask for, are all vying for your attention and causing the eradication of our forests. These companies apparently get enough responses to justify their excessive mailings, but that does not mean you have to like it.
Here are some facts from New York University School of Law about junk mail and sustainability:

• 5.6 million tons of catalogs and other direct mail advertisements end up in US landfills annually.
• 44 percent of junk mail is thrown away unopened, but only 22 percent is recycled.
• The average mailbox receives 848 pieces of junk mail per household, equal to 1.5 trees every year and that equals more than 100 million trees for all US households combined.
• Largely due to deforestation, junk mail manufacturing creates as much greenhouse gas emissions annually as 3.7 million cars.
• Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that does not get recycled.