Letters to the Editor
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Thank you, Jesus!!! (and Yahweh and Allah and Buddha and Ganesha, et al.)
Every year the stack of catalogs grows. It's ridiculous! Thank you for putting in one place every "click" I need to know about to reduce this embarrassing waste.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart! My mail carrier thanks you, too!
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Mail excess
I don't drive and it's inconvenient for me to get to malls by public transport, so I do a lot of purchasing over the Web. I like receiving catalogs from the companies I make purchases from; it's often faster to flip through a catalog than page through a Web site.
But around Christmas, it gets ridiculous. In the past month, I've received at least a dozen different catalogs each from Lands End, L.L. Bean, and Eddie Bauer, for example. I would vastly prefer to receive one comprehensive Christmas catalog per retailer.
Another gripe: Whenever I make a small donation to a charity or nonprofit or political campaign, I end up receiving so many fancy mail solicitations for additional donations that the cost of postage and production must wipe out my entire initial contribution and then some.
Electronic junk mail from similar sources (as opposed to spam, which is hopeless) is a whole 'nother source of irritation, but for some reason these sources are a lot better about giving you the chance to opt out of, or to remove yourself from their email lists once you've gotten on. And at least electronic junk mail doesn't waste trees...
If these companies and organizations can let you opt out of or take you off their email lists, why can't they do the same with their snail-mail lists?
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Environmental Groups are the worst
I really hate to say it, but (some) environmental groups are the worst offenders in the direct mail fiasco. I have written multiple letters to the World Wildlife fund asking them to remove me from their mailing list, after receiving calendars, cards, stickers and multiple other unsolicited items. Never mind the fact that I've never contributed a dime to their cause. After at least two letters it appears that they've finally removed me. I know other environmental organizations I've contributed have shared my information. The WWF aren't the only ones either, I get lots of mail from the Audubon Society (which I do contribute to) and there are many others as well. It's a shame because I often support (in spirit if not financially) the causes these groups are striving for, but it strikes me as really counterproductive to their efforts to do this. It directly causes habitat destruction as well as polluting the environment with chemicals from the printing process and the energy used in production and delivery emits carbon dioxide. I'd really prefer electronic correspondence, because it doesn't require killing trees and all that production. I also signed up with Green Dimes this summer and have been largely pleased, but there is still some that slips through. I have been working really hard to rid myself entirely of junk mail but it is really, really hard. I sincerely hope that environmental organizations start leading by example and change their practices regarding direct mail.
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so have some fun with them...
The catalogs you can at least chuck in the recycle. But what about those business reply envelopes? Each one sealed and tossed back into the mail empty requires the recipient to pay full postage. It's perfect: it raises first class revenue for the postal service, it directly punishes the junk mailer in the wallet, and it makes them dispose of their own garbage.
If you've got a lot of time on your hands, take all the junk you got that day (minus your name and address), and cram that in the envelope. Tape tightly. Then they'll have to pay for overweight and over-thickness. I used to do this back before I started to value my time. If you had chunks of sheet iron, you could even insert those in the envelope and mail them. Lead would be heavier and easier to work with, but lead is toxic, so definitely don't send that. I wonder what it costs them to receive a two-pound chunk of iron.
My method: I decide if the junk mailer has annoyed me in some way. Most do. All credit card offers automatically qualify, as do snooty magazines (especially anything from Conde(scending &) Nast(y). After all, I just know they'd love to make a donation to the USPS.
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Giving to Good Causes
After being deluged with paper from Amnesty International one year, DH and I crafted a rule for charity giving: We give to a charity for a year. If, during that year, the amount of paper we get FROM the charity trying to get us to donate MORE becomes unreasonable, we do not donate to that charity the next year.
If the charity/cause/good work sends us nothing or sends us a couple of small thank you's and maybe one or two updates they're on the list for next year.
Surprisingly, some large international organizations have gotten kicked off the list within a couple of months, while some small, local charities will probably never get kicked off. (And from a fiscal standpoint, actually seem to be run better.)
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Good information!
Thank you.
I've often wondered if charitable organizations realize that one of the reasons I won't give small donations to a new (to me) organization anymore is that I'm tired of having my name sold to other similar organizations. It's like every day's mail is a reproach for having once made an act of charity. Political donations are even worse. It's one thing to ask me for $50, but it's another thing to keep intruding into my life with stacks of paper and phone calls.
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re: Junk Mail Galore
I agree completely with Swith Loris! After buying some stuff on-line and giving money to a few charitable organizations, our mailbox has been swamped with catalogs as well as more donation requests from other such organizations, etc. (I knew that companies/organizations sell their list and this probably explains where a portion of their revenue comes from.) I believe more than 90% of all the mail we now receive is either a donation request or an unsolicited catalog! I was actually getting to be quite upset about receiving so much junk mail and see my donations wasted on sending more junk mail, notwithstanding the waste of paper and trees (these were my thoughts before I read this very good article). Can’t wait to help stop this madness!