No More Junk Mail

I don't know about you but I receive junk mail DAILY.  I hate it!  I think about all the trees used to produce all the paper for these daily mailings and although it goes directly into our recycling bin, it takes energy to recycle it all over again.  When did I sign up for this?  

Did you know:

Basic Facts

• The majority of household waste consists of unsolicited mail.
• 100 million trees are ground up each year for unsolicited mail.
• It wastes 28 billion gallons of water for paper processing each year.
• More than half of unsolicited mail is discarded unread or unopened; the response rate is less than 2%.
• The result is more than 4 million tons of paper waste each year.
• It is difficult to recycle, as the inks have high concentrations of heavy metals.
• $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of unsolicited mail each year.
• It costs $550 million yearly to transport junk mail.
• Scarce landfill space disfigures rural areas and pollutes ground water.
• We each get about 40 pounds of junk mail a year, more than a tree's worth per family!

Here are some fast facts on junkmail waste by the Native Forest Network.
There is something you can do about it.  Go to www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs4-junk.htm or http://www.ecofuture.org/jnkmail.html to learn more about what you can do to stop the mail coming to your mailbox.  It takes 5 min. of your time and is well worth it!

Mommy Bridget