Fast & Easy Ways to Reduce Your Junk Mail

What if you could stop much of your mail from even making it to your mail box? Recycling junk mail only solves half of the problem. Production of mailers, catalogs, and advertisements accounts for the destruction of 100 million trees each year. In global warming terms, it's equivalent to 3.7 million cars.

Reduce your junk mail by following these simple tips:

1. Eliminate 70-80% of your junk mail by removing your name from using the Direct Marketing Association's opt-out. Go online to the Direct Marketing Association's website to see how to get this done now and in the future.
   
2. Contact the credit bureaus to reduce the automatic credit card offers sent to you: Equifax, TransUnion, Novus & Experian.
   
3. Don't sign up for "Free Drawings". And be sure to select "no mailings" when purchasing from companies online, by phone or from catalogs.
   
4. Write or call companies on catalogs and promotional items that you no longer do business with. Have your exact mailing label in-hand when you speak with them or send it in with your written request.
   
5. Refuse and return first class mail if you don't want to receive it. If any items say any of the following, you can return it to the sender: return services requested, forwarding service requested, address services requested, or change of service requested.
6. Don't use the USPS change of address cards. The address that you list becomes public record and is commonly used by companies for direct mailings. Contact those companies directly from which you wish to receive mail.

Taking a few minutes now will save you hours spent sorting through piles of mail. You'll save more than just time, however. You'll help save the planet.