Eco-Tip: Avoid the Holiday Catalog Onslaught
by Kyeann Sayer, Nomad on 11. 7.06
What do you do about junk mail? We're probably a week too late on this one, but you may still have time. After a month away, I returned to a mountain of mail, including a slippery stack of catalogs, and remembered that this little accumulation was small potatoes compared with the holiday glut. With a steaming cup of tea, and my 1-800 dialing finger poised, I lanunched into an hour of polite mailing list removal requests from accommodating customer service agents (how did the Finger Hut get my name?). Since catalogs are pre-printed the effect may take eight weeks, so though I may get all of the Christmas stuff, at least the post-holiday sales and Valentine's madness won't clutter my mail box. If you want to remove yourself from other types of lists, or take some political action on junk mail, check out the Center for a New American Dream's Declare Your Independence from Junk Mail campaign. You can also pay for the service greendimes, which will make regular removal requests for you, and plant trees to counteract some of the silliness, for just a dime a day (an excellent holiday gift idea, btw!). ::
You can register FREE with the National Do Not Mail List; just visit https://www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/?ref=G
There is also a website that gives you the info you need to get off of other lists: visit http://www.charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/junk-mail.htm Several months ago I registered with the National Do Not Mail List and followed some of the suggestions on the other website and am nearly junk mail free!