Less Junk Mail — More Trees

Paper junk mail..arrghhh.. Who doesn’t hate it? In addition to being a nuisance it is also a contributing force in deforestation and consequentially loss of animal habitats, increased greenhouse gasses and wasted water. And according to Rainforest Action Network, while United States has less than 5% of the world’s population it yet consumes more than 30% of the world’s paper.

Stopping the junk mail

I’ve been on a mission to eradicate the annoying and wasteful junk mail delivery we receive and wanted to share the things that have worked.

1. Catalogs

   Opting out

   CatalogChoice.org is absolutely great when it comes to opting out of the majority of catalogs that arrive in the mail. It is easy to use, it is free (although donations are welcome) and it is very effective!

There will be some companies that will not appear in the CatalogChoice database. In those cases contacting their Customer Service to request being removed off the mailing list usually does the trick.

Consider e-catalogs instead

And if you do like to receive certain catalogs in mail, but wish to reduce your paper consumption look into whether or not those brands also have electronic catalogs, instead of paper ones.

2. The utter junk mail

   Here I’m referring to those cheap newspaper-like packets of coupons and alike stuffed in everyone’s mailbox, courtesy of USPS. Turns out there is even a way to unsubscribe from those! As I learned from https://www.usa.gov/telemarketing you can request to not receive those ‘offers’ by registering at https://dmachoice.thedma.org .

3. Newspapers

   The newspapers dropped off in your driveway – while I haven’t had this problem, a neighbors mentioned to have successfully discounted delivery by contacting the newspaper’s publisher.

Plant trees!

Last, but not least I wanted to share this great project you can support. WildEarth Guardians routinely do tree plantings in the Southwest along the streams to restore local habitats. Just $10 will support a tree! We’ve also started a tradition in our family a couple of years ago for each of our birthdays we donate towards trees being planted. I’m excited to imagine having a forest we’ve planted by the time my boys are grown man!

And check out these incredible organizations who work to protect our forests from logging, mining and roads:

• PacificWild
• AmazonWatch
• OregonWild