What is in your mail box?
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green home: unsolicited mail
Tired of having your mailbox
crammed with unsolicited mail,
including pre-approved credit card applications? Me too!
Junk mail facts:
• 5.6 million tons of catalogs and other direct mail advertisements end up in landfills annually.
• Each person will receive almost 560 pieces of junk mail this year- That's 4.5 million tons of junk mail in total produced every single year!
• 44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread.
• Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that doesn’t get recycled.
• Approximately 40% of the solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste.
• 100 million trees are ground up each year to produce junk mail.
There are ways to reduce the onslaught and waste of beautiful trees and the energy needed to truck around these mountains of mail.
what you can do:
1. Remove your name from mail, marketing and phone lists
The Direct Marketing Association can do this for you— Register on line or via mail.
What happens when you request name removal?
Your name is placed on a "delete" file- made available to companies four times a year (January, April, July, and October).
After registering, you will notice a decrease in the amount of advertising mail within about 3 months.
2. Credit Bureaus- stop credit card offers
The Federal Trade Commission offers direction to “opt-out” of solicitation for pre-approved credit card offers.
Visit the Federal Trade Commision online!
Notify the three major credit bureaus by mail or phone.
Tell them you do not want your info shared for promotional purposes—an important step toward eliminating unsolicited mail.
Write your own letter or use the sample letter provided below to limit the amount of information the credit bureaus will share about you.
Send your letter to each of the three major credit bureaus:
Equifax, Inc.
Name Removal Option
PO Box 740123
Atlanta, GA 30374-0123
800-755-3502
Experian
Consumer Opt-Out
701 Experian Parkway
Allen, TX 75013
800-353-0809
TransUnion
Name Removal Option
555 West Adams St.
Chicago, IL 60661
800-345-2349
Click HERE for Sample Opt-Out Letter
3. Stop having your name sold!
Your name and address is worth between 3 and 20 cents every time it is sold. You can stop it!
You can specifically request that your name not be lent, sold or traded to any other organizations for their mailing lists.
Do this whenever you send a check for donations, for mail order purchases, when renewing subscriptions or when returning a warranty card.
When you make purchases on-line, make a note in the comment box that you do not want your name shared for any purposes without authorization.
Persistence pays and saves. The forests and ice caps thank you.
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How do you disgard your information?
Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that doesn’t get recycled.
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Notify the three major credit bureaus (noted at left) by mail or phone.
Tell them you do not want your info shared for promotional purposes—
an important step toward eliminating unsolicited mail. |
pulp mill
| Don't sell you name. You can specifically request that your name not be lent, sold or traded to any other organization for their mailing lists.
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