Did You Know?
We each get an estimated 32 pounds of junk mail each year. That's 4.3 million tons of unsolicited, unwanted mail discarded nationally. Right now only about one out of five pieces is recycled.Reduction Tips
While recycling is a better option than throwing out junk mail, reducing unwanted mail is the best option.
To begin reducing junk mail at home, visit Reduce.org and click on "Junk Mail" in the sidebar. Reduce.org is a service of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. This web site provides step-by-step guidance on how to easily get off mailing lists.
The most important thing you can do to keep your name off junk mail lists is to control your exposure. Think about how often you give out your contact information on product warranties, professional associations, publication subscriptions, contest sweepstakes, writing checks or shopping online. Remember to consistently add a privacy statement to anything you put your name on asking not to be added to their mailing list.
- Take Me Off Your List, Please...
Register with the Mail Preference Service of the Direct Mail Marketing Association (DMA) to reduce the amount of national non-profit and commercial mailings sent to you. - Junk Mail Tree Project
This project of the Alliance for Sustainability creates mixed-media sculptures about unwanted mail, increasing understanding of the resources wasted each year. Visit this web site for information and resources on reducing junk mail, and learn how you can create a junk mail tree in your community to spread the word. - Junk Mail, Telemarketing and Privacy
Visit the online Privacy Rights Clearinghouse for multilingual fact sheets on junk mail and telemarketing privacy issues.
Contact your county for more assistance. Some offer junk mail reduction kits or other resources to help you reduce unwanted mail.