Sunday, September 30, 2007

I Challange You!!

Junk mail is one of those things I think we've become programmed into just expecting it and dealing with it. However, I have been trying for a few years now to cut down on the amount of Junk Mail I receive. It isn't easy, and moving doesn't help! BUT today I get hardly any junk mail after I started fighting back.
So what can you do?
Actually its VERY easy and FREE in most cases. Obviously sometimes you do have to pay to get rid of the junk if you are wanting something a bit more long term, however it could be what you need to get the junk to STOP!!

41pounds.org will stop your junk mail for 5 years for only $41. That might seems like a lot of money, but if you are wanting to go ALL the way this could be the best option for you. Besides over 5 years you are only spending $8.20 PER year which is nothing.

For more information about how to stop junk mail Ecocycle has some great examples and addresses of companies to write.

DMA consumers is your best bet for getting off mailing list. They only charge $1 in most cases to get off bulk mailing lists. They also have a lot of information about junk mail. Or check out Directmail.com to get off direct mailing lists.

So how do you get off those Credit Card offer lists? Those ones seem endless!!! Every time you get one; they pulled your credit. A lot of people viewing your credit isn't good for future loans nor do you want someone digging around in your credit report!!!

Opt Out is a great website and I have done it. You can sign up to STOP receiving Credit Card offers for years or FOREVER. It is all done electronically and online. You DO have to provide your SSN# which I realize can make a lot of people hesitant. I know I was; however I saw this website given out on TV on the news and the government backs it as well. Since I signed up about year ago I haven't received any unsolicited Credit card offers.
Do keep in mind that if YOU call or try to sign up for a credit card they can start sending you future offers. This includes your mortgage company as well if they are affiliated with a Credit Card company. Not to mention your own Bank! If you do business with them, expect to get offers. They will only stop if you tell them which usually means just a phone call.

You know all those Privacy Practice things you get in the mail? The ones from the companies you DO work thru like your Credit Cards, cell phones, car loans, mortgages, etc?
Well those are there to PROTECT you and in all that fine print there is ALWAYS something about Opting out. I got on the other day from Verizon and sure enough in the fine print I found an Opt-out section.
Those privacy policies are advising you that they probably WILL sell your information and they are warning you with that silly letter in the worlds smallest print.
For the Verizon one I got all I had to do was call a toll-free number and I was off the future mailing lists for whoever Verizon was going to sell it to.
I used to throw those things away thinking it was nothing and yet I still couldn't figure out how in the world I was getting all that junk mail. And now I know.
(FYI: The HIPPA you sign at the Doctors is not the same thing)

Remember if you ARE getting catalogs that you WANT to get, be careful of opting out of things. You could stop receiving your catalogs.
However lets be real here, do you really need those catalogs?
And could you view the catalog online?
In most cases you can view the actual catalog online and typically online you get better offers then thru the catalog itself.

So that is my challenge for YOU! Stop the junk mail and what ever junk mail you get--recycle it!!! (be sure to shred those Credit Card offers though!!)

Junk Mail Facts:

  • More than 100 million trees’ worth of bulk mail arrive in American mail boxes each year – that’s the equivalent of deforesting the entire Rocky Mountain National Park every four months. (New American Dream calculation from Conservatree and U.S. Forest Service statistics)

  • In 2005, 5.8 million tons of catalogs and other direct mailings ended up in the U.S. municipal solid waste stream – enough to fill over 450,000 garbage trucks. Parked bumper to bumper these garbage trucks would extend from Atlanta to Albuquerque. Less than 36% of this ad mail was recycled. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
    The production and disposal of direct mail consumes more energy than 3 million cars. (New American Dream calculation from U.S. Department of Energy and the Paper Task Force statistics)

  • Citizens and local governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year to collect and dispose of all the bulk mail that doesn’t get recycled. (New American Dream estimate from EPA statistics)

  • California's state and local governments spend $500,000 each year collecting and disposing of AOL’s direct mail disks alone. (California State Assembly)
Incredibly Popular with Industry, Not with Citizens:
  • U.S. companies sent 35 billion pieces of direct postal mail in 1980, 64 billion pieces in 1990, 90 billion pieces in 2000, and 100 billion pieces in 2005. That’s more than 300 pieces of bulk mail for every man, woman, and child! (U.S. Postal Service)

  • One study says Americans throw away 44% of bulk mail unopened, yet still spend 8 months per lifetime opening bulk mail. (Consumer Research Institute)
  • Fifty-five percent of Americans “dislike” and 26% “despise” getting Internet disks in the mail, while 1.9% “really appreciate” them. (June 2002 Opinion Research Corporation International Poll commissioned by New American Dream)
  • Ninety-one percent of all U.S. adults have heard of the National Do Not Call Registry. More than half of all adults report that they signed up and now receive far fewer telemarketing calls or none at all. (February 2002 Harris Poll)

1 comment:

Rachel Ann said...

Thanks for the opt-out heads up...I went and signed up for the 5 year electronic opt out....the darn credit cards offers are frustrating, nauseating, sickening, etc, etc, etc.