Junk Mails (Again)
[Photo via darkest-star]
I talked about my annoyance toward fake personal junk mails, but I actually hate junk mails in general.
Junk mails are very resource intensive. In the US alone, every year 100 million trees are harvested to make them, and 44% of the time they go straight into trash (source: ForestEthics). This is equivalent to putting an additional 6 million cars on the road (based on the 17 trees per car figure, perhaps an underestimate). It’s ridiculous that by having a mailbox, we involuntarily become part of their wasteful marketing practice.
The solution for most people is actually quite simple according to the Red Dot Campaign. Just put up a sign that says “No Junk Mail”, and you can block most of them (in Canada). I wonder why people aren’t doing it if it’s so simple? My guess is that people are either not aware of this option or not enthusiastic to act on it. After all, sometimes coupons for deliveries do come in handy. You can buy stickers from Red Dot Campaign’s website or print them yourself, but I doubt people would do so unless they are as pissed as I am (pissed enough to blog about it).
I wonder if environmental groups have considered sending out those “NO JUNK MAIL” stickers? Yes, send it out like junk mails. Besides the ideological conflict and the one-time cost, I don’t see why not. I think it will be very effective because it’s simple and effortless for recipients. Just stick it on your mailbox and you are good to go.
I don’t know for sure, but maybe this will work. It could be tested first in one neighborhood, and then monitor the adoption rate a few days later.
If you really can’t live without those delivery coupons, I’m sure when enough people opt-out, they’ll find other ways to give you discounts.
Personally, I’m still trying to catch our postie in the morning because I live in an apartment building with mail slots (shown in my previous post), and I can’t find a spot to show the sticker. I’ll report back.
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