Ever year the average person receives 560 pieces of junk mail. That is close to 5 million tons of junk mail the goes to landfills each year. The majority of that mail, close to half of it, is unopened and unread. To understand that impact, that is the equivalent to 100 million trees being cut down a year for junk mail. 1 million trees offsets 48,000,000 pound of carbon emissions. The average car produces 10,000 pounds of carbon dioxide a year. Chances are your mail box is filled with some sort of junk mail. But we can change that, we can help save trees with a few simple steps.
Step 1:
The Majority of your junk mail comes from an organization called The Data and Marketing Association. You can opt out from receiving mail from this organization, minimize the amount you receive, or opt for email only mail. This will help offset the amount of mail you receive. To do so you can unsubscribe at DMA CHOICE.
Step 2:
Use the service Opt Out to unsubscribe from credit card offers and insurance offers. You have two options to help you do that. You can call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) or if you don't feel like talking on the phone you can visit optoutprescreen.com. This service will help reduce the amount of junk mail you receive from new credit card and insurance offers.
Step 3:
Go Digital. When possible, if its offered, switch things like your bank statements, utility bills and other reoccurring paper forms of information to email form. Try it out! You can always switch back or print a physical copy if it's needed.
Step 2:
Use the service Opt Out to unsubscribe from credit card offers and insurance offers. You have two options to help you do that. You can call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) or if you don't feel like talking on the phone you can visit optoutprescreen.com. This service will help reduce the amount of junk mail you receive from new credit card and insurance offers.
Step 3:
Go Digital. When possible, if its offered, switch things like your bank statements, utility bills and other reoccurring paper forms of information to email form. Try it out! You can always switch back or print a physical copy if it's needed.
Step 4:
Ask companies you have existing accounts with to set your account to Maximum Privacy. Some companies share customer's information for marketing purposes. So let them know you don't want your information shared with anyone.
Step 5:
Get rid of that Valpak that comes to your home. We have all seen it that blue envelop that is in your mail box constantly filled with local coupons. You can unsubscribe from it by visiting Valpak's website. I honestly can't remember how i even subscribed to Valpak if I ever did but following that link will help you unsubscribe. If you are worried about supporting local business, here are some ways you can support small and local business:
- Shop at small businesses
- Participate in Small Business Saturday
- Choose small businesses during the holidays
- Word of mouth
- Host an event for small business owners
- Organize a community event
- Use small businesses for last minute shopping
- Encourage family and friends to shop at small businesses
- Share small business content on social media
- Leave positive reviews of small businesses online
- Show your appreciation
- Avoid Amazon and support small online and local business
We can all do our part to help minimize the impact we have on our planet. These simple steps will go along way if we all implement them in our daily lives. It takes a little time out of our day to make these changes but they will have a lasting impact.
