Stop Junk Mail!

Stop junk mail and save your sanity and your time. Reduce the amount of daily mail AND save the environment!

Thanks to Green Star, Inc. the following information is available to help us all finally stop junk mail in our lives!

How much junk mail are we talking about?

Each person will receive almost 560 pieces of unwanted mail this year.
41 pounds and about 44% will go to the landfill unopened.
More than 4 million tons (62 billion pieces) of junk mail are sent
annually.
The majority of household waste consists of unsolicited mail.
Your name is typically worth 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold.
About $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of unsolicited
mail each year.

Why should we stop junk mail?

The production and disposal of junk mail consumes more energy than 2.8
million cars.
About 100 million trees are ground up each year for unsolicited mail.
About 42% of timber harvested nationwide ends up as pulpwood for paper.
It wastes 28 billion gallons of water for paper processing each year.
Even if you recycle, there are enormous environmental costs, such as the use of resources (paper, ink), transportation, and processing.

Be part of the collective power to stop junk mail by following these tips.

How to Stop Junk Mail

GreenDimes: Join GreenDimes and have them stop junk mail AND plant a tree every month for you! For about a dime a day, you can reduce your junk by 75%-90%. This program is also available in Canada!

Catalog Choice: Catalog Choice is a free service that allows you to decide what gets in your mailbox. Use it to reduce your mailbox clutter, while helping save natural resources.

Donations: Whenever you donate money, order a product or service, or fill out a warranty card, write in large letters, "Please do not sell my name or address." Most organizations will properly mark your name in the computer.

Warranties: Product warranty cards are often used to collection information on your habits and income, for the sole purpose of targeting direct mail. They are not required in most situations -- avoid sending them.

Telephone: On the telephone, say "Please mark my account so that my name is not traded or sold to other companies."

Credit Cards : Your credit card company probably sells your name the most often. Call them and ask them to stop.

Contests: "Contests" where you fill in a little entry blank are almost always fishing expeditions for names and addresses. If you fill one out at a football game, for example, expect to get a catalog of football merchandise within a few months. Avoid these if you want to stop junk mail.

Get Strategic : Select a false middle name or initial for each charity or business you deal with. Keep track of which letter goes with which organization. You also can select a false road designator, "avenue, place, circle, street, highway, parkway, etc." This step can be very revealing and can help you identify who/what sources to target to get mailings to stop. Some guides recommend changing the spelling of your name, but this can lead to duplicate mailings.

DMAchoice: The Direct Marketing Association estimates that listing with its mail preference service will stop 80% of all national mailings. This service has stopped 930 million pieces of direct mail from being sent in the United States and is being duplicated in other areas of the world. Yay! This can be your one stop shop since you can request to stop any type of mail solicitation: credit offers, catalogs, magazine and promotions, bank offers, etc.

To stop specific types of daily mail:

First class mail: Cross out the address and bar code, circle the first class postage and write "refused: return to sender." Drop in any mailbox, it will be returned to sender.

Bulk mail: The Post Office throws away bulk mail it can't deliver, so returning it does no good. Bulk mail is the hardest to deal with because the Post Office actively provides addresses to mailers. However, if "address correction requested" is written on the label: circle "address correction requested" and treat like first class mail.

Sexually Oriented Advertising (SOA): The only help you'll get from the Post Office to stop junk mail is for sexually explicit stuff. Fill out USPS Form 1500 if you wish this type of mail to stop. You define what you find to be explicit -- if that's an automobile parts catalog, the Post Office won't disagree with you.

Credit offers: The major credit agencies all sell aggregate credit information any bidder. Direct mail and credit companies generate mail based on demographics including zip code, income band and credit payment patterns. Stopping this is easy; you just need your address, former address within two years, and social security number. One call does it all for agencies Equifax, Trans Union, Experian and Innovis. Dial 1-888-5OPTOUT (or 1-888-567-8688) 24 hours a day.
Or opt-out online.

Catalogs: Call the company's toll-free number or visit their website and have the label handy. On their website, you can usually stop the junk mail by going to their customer service page. Ask them to remove your name from their mailing list. It may take a few months, since they print the labels months in advance.

AOL (America On-Line): Call 1-800-605-4297 (24 hours a day) to get off the list.

Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes: Contact customer service at 1-800-645-9242 (8:30 am to 8:30 EST), send a fax to 1-800-453-0272, mail to 101 Channel Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050, or send email to pch@ant.net. PCH will remove any number of names from a specific address, but you have to list each name exactly.

American Family Sweepstakes: Call 1-800-237-2400.

Local business & supermarket fliers:

ADVO (Mail comes with pictures of missing children). Call 1-860-285-6100 to get off the list. You may have to send a postcard to "ADVO Consumer Assistance, POB 249, Windsor CT 06095-4176".
Val-Pak Coupons: click the link and fill out the form - easy, but don't give them your email address.
Carol Wright: Call 1-800-67-TARGET to get off the list.
Your local newspaper & supermarket (look for a phone number on the piece).

Other Resources to Stop Junk Mail

Phone Book Directories, Coupons, Mailing List Companies, and other helpful organizations.

To stop junk mail addressed to former residents, or a former spouse:

If you rent, you are probably familiar with receiving mail for a dozen or more former residents of your dwelling. Since you probably don't want any of it, you can use two powerful techniques that might not be appropriate for yourself:

Bulk mail for "current resident or ...": Start by filling out this form online. Or if you prefer you can print out this form and send it to DMAchoice, Direct Marketing Association, PO Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512-0643.

First class and some bulk mail: If the former residents neglected to fill out a Post Office change of address card, or it expired, you can fill one out for them. You must fill out one card for each unique last name. Write "Moved, Left No Forwarding Address" as the new address. Sign your own name and write "Form filled in by current resident of the house, [Your Name], agent for the above." You must write "agent for the above." Hand this form directly to your carrier, if possible, as your carrier must approve the form and see that it gets entered into the post service National Change of Address (NCOA) database. This is very effective to stop junk mail of this kind.

Let's stay connected!

Return from Stop Junk Mail to The Organizing Coach home page