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| How to reduce junk mail If you'd like to stop receiving unsolicited mailings, here are several approaches for reducing junk mail. Be patient; it may take three to six months before you notice a reduction. Call mail-order catalog companies. Most catalogs provide an 800 telephone number for placing an order; call this number and ask to be taken off their mailing list. Contact credit bureaus. To stop receiving "pre-approved" credit card offers, call the credit bureaus at 888-5-OPTOUT (888 567-8688). Reduce advertising supplements. Grocery store advertisements, typically delivered midweek, are often accompanied by a postcard; some postcards show pictures of missing children. Contact the company on the return address of the postcard that accompanies these advertising supplements. One company mailing these items is: ADVO, Inc. (Delivery Service) at 510 505-6500. Get off national mailing lists. Write to the address below and ask to be placed on a "suppress" file. Include your name and address in all the different ways it appears on your junk mail. The Mail Preference Service places your name in a suppress file for five years. The Direct Marketing Association sends this list to its business subscribers four times a year. Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing AssociationRequest charities not distribute your information. When you make a donation to a charity or nonprofit group, enclose a note requesting that the organization not rent, sell or exchange your name with anyone else. Return junk mail. Envelopes marked "address correction requested" or "return postage guaranteed" can be returned unopened to the sender by crossing out your address and writing "refused, return to sender" on the envelope. Then place this article of mail back in your mailbox. DO NOT write this on mail without that special notation; the post office will NOT return it to the sender unless it is so marked. Notify mailing brokers. Some companies specialize in collecting and selling mailing lists. Call some of these companies and ask to be placed in their "suppress" files: R.L. Polk & Company l 800 873-7655Remove your name from sweepstakes offers. To have your name removed from the major nationwide sweepstakes mailers, contact: Publishers Clearinghouse l 800 645-9242 For more information about removing yourself from mailing lists, contact the Utility Consumer Action Network at www.privacyrights.org |
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| Become an environmental shopper Much of the garbage that gets thrown away each day is left over packaging, such as paper or plastic wrap. Some experts say as much as 1/3 of what gets thrown away is packaging.
So what can you do?
Reuse |
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When at the grocery store: Safeway Stores, Albertson's Food and Drug, Ralph's, Raley's and G&G Supermarkets give 5 cents rebate for each bag you bring in. So get the habit--cloth bags won't tear like plastic or paper. Store a few in your car so you will have them when you need them. |
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Recycle What do you know about the packaging of the product? Is the packaging recyclable? If not, is the same product available in recyclable packaging? Buy recycled Look for products that are made with or are packaged with recycled materials. Cereal boxes and other cardboard containers often say "Made with 100% recycled content". This message tells you that the box was made from used paper and cardboard. Also look for items that have "post-consumer" content. You may be buying recycled without even knowing it. Many things you buy are made with recycled materials and do not always advertise it. For example, in California, the average aluminum container is made up of 55% recycled aluminum, the average glass bottle is made of 30% recycled glass, and the average steel can is made of 25% recycled steel. So, when you buy many cans and bottles you are really buying a recycled product. |
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Contact us at eco-desk@recyclenow.org |
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