Did you know the average person gets only 1.5 personal letters each week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail? Each person will receive almost 560 pieces of junk mail this year.
That’s 4.5 million tons of junk mail produced each year!
44 percent of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread. Approximately 40 percent of the solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste.
Believe or not there are ways to fight this nuisance.
In addition to contacting the Direct Mail Association to opt-out of all unsolicited offers, the folks at the Office of Strategic Influence suggest attaching the postage-paid envelope that comes in the unsolicited letter to a box containing a brick. Since the company has to pay $.25 for each ounce, an eight pound package will set them back $25.
As a take off on this idea, Steven Kinsella on LewRockwell.com suggested a way to stick it to fundraising letters for political candidates, especially the McBama camp. With the right amount of diligence and patience, one can make 2009 a year hassle-free from junk mail.
1 comment:
You can opt-out through your local USPS as well. As far as the "attach it to a brick" idea ~ a bit extreme and not recommended as it would simply raise our over-all cost of postage if it ever took off on a large scale.
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