SO much for the paperless revolution -- at least where junk mail is concerned.
Our inboxes may be overflowing with electronic spam, but that hasn't made much of a dent in the paper variety. For many, collecting the mail still means sifting through credit card promotions and store flyers in a quest to dig up unpaid bills, or on rare occasions, letters from actual people.
So much paper goes from the mailbox straight to the blue box.
As you might expect, all that junk mail takes a heavy environmental toll. That's especially true in Canada's boreal forest, which conservation group ForestEthics says is being logged at a rate of almost a hectare per minute, 24 hours a day, largely for paper production.
Canadian statistics are hard to come by, but in the U.S. alone, the group estimates junk mail production sucks up more than 100 million trees annually. That may be why getting off advertisers' mailing lists is an industry in itself south of the border, with a number of businesses that charge a flat fee for the service.
The issue seems to get less attention in Canada, but that may not be an entirely bad sign, according to one local group.
Resource Conservation Manitoba executive director Randall McQuaker said the real struggle for Canadians began a decade ago "as a big concern about the use of forest resources." These days, he said, more people are aware of junk mail as an environmental issue, and options for cutting back are more readily available.
"The struggle has been kind of waged, and at least partly won on this one," he said.
Read on for some tips on getting to the bottom of your mailbox:
Join the Do Not Contact list
Want to cut your junk mail by up to 80 per cent in less than five minutes? Sign up for the Canadian Marketing Association's Do Not Contact service.
The CMA's roughly 800 members including credit card companies, retailers, charities, and all of Canada's major banks and financial institutions. By signing up for the service, you'll be taken off the mailing lists for all member companies, as well as phone and fax lists, if you choose.
"Consumers can expect to see about a 70 to 80 per cent drop in addressed ad mail," said CMA senior director of communications Ed Cartwright, noting half a million Canadians already use the service. It requires six weeks to take effect, and names stay on the list for roughly three years.
The easiest way to sign up is online, at cornerstonewebmedia.com/cma/submit.asp. You can also visit www.the-cma.org and follow the links.
Requests to sign up for the Do Not Contact service can be faxed to 416-441-4062, or mailed to the Canadian Marketing Association at P.O. Box 706, 1 Concorde Gate, Toronto, ON, M3C 3N6. Include your full address, phone number with area code, and all the names you'd like to register, including spelling variations.
Before signing up, bear in mind that the service may stop you from getting some mail you do want, like favourite catalogues. Companies with whom you have an existing relationship should contact you directly, said Cartwright, but if you'd like to see a full list of CMA members, visit cma.officialbuyersguide.net/.
Put a sticker on the box
This technique is well known to many Winnipeggers -- take a tour through Wolseley and you'll see what we mean -- but it bears repeating.
According to Canada Post, a sticker reading "No flyers please" attached to your mailbox or above your mail slot means letter carriers will keep the flyers away. Apartment-dwellers can put a sticker inside the mailbox. The sticker also works to ward off letters addressed to "resident" or "current resident," said spokeswoman Kathi Neal.
People who have a sticker and are still receiving flyers should notify their local post office to remedy the situation, Neal said. They might also check if there's a postmark on the letter -- if not, it was likely dropped off by someone other than a letter carrier.
In these cases, said Neal, the best bet is to contact the sender directly and ask to be removed from their mailing lists. Remember that if a letter has your name on it, there's no point complaining to Canada Post -- they're obliged to deliver addressed mail.
Be choosy about catalogues
Catalogues are among the more criticized types of junk mail -- hundreds of glossy pages that are as often as not tossed in the recycling bin. ForestEthics is in the early stages of a campaign calling on catalogue makers to use more recycled content.
To cut back on paper use, opt only for catalogues you actually read, and cancel the rest. Or see if the retailer has an online version.
Reading matter
Okay, so magazines don't quite fit the junk mail category -- but like catalogues, they're produced with glossy, often virgin paper, and the recycled content isn't always as high as it could be. If you're concerned about paper waste, buy an online subscription. As for what the Free Press is doing to keep green, watch for a coming feature on this page.
Pay bills online
Most major banks and credit unions let users bank online, and while it's a bit of work to set up, you'll save time once the necessary arrangements are made. If you don't already bank online, your financial institution should be able to provide you with instructions for setting up an account.
Note that being set up for online bill payments doesn't mean you won't receive bills in the mail. To stop receiving paper bills, you'll typically need to contact the companies directly.
Contact the company
It's the most obvious solution, but how many of us take the time to respond to that particularly persistent mailer?
Sometimes direct contact may be the only way to get the point across. Look for an e-mail address or 1-800 number on the offending letter.
Help a neighbour
You can't do much about your neighbours' junk mail intake, but if you live in an apartment, you can help keep it out of landfills. See if your property manager will allow a recycling bin in a central location near the mailboxes.
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