Since moving to Ohio City I've been disgusted by the amount of junk mail I get here, as a "postal cutomer"... especially since I realized it comes from the PLAIN DEALER and CLEVELAND.COM! This is truly one of the least eco-conscious organizations in Northeast Ohio, which goes a long way toward explaining why our community and region are such a toxic disaster. Not only do they waste huge amounts of paper printing junk inserts in their paper, but now they are sending out junk mail. I post this because this is Junk Mail Awareness Week [1], and knowing the PD is one of the worst offenders in the region it is safe to say they will not help citizens of NEO address this ecological crisis. So read the facts and follow the link below and go to the effort to declare your freedom from junk mail.
Declare your freedom from junk mail [2]
Just the Facts: Junk Mail Facts and Figures
Bad for our Energy Security, the Environment and Government Budgets
More than 100 million trees’ worth of bulk mail arrive in American mail boxes each year – that’s the equivalent of deforesting the entire Rocky Mountain National Park every four months. (New American Dream calculation from Conservatree and U.S. Forest Service statistics) - In 2003, 5.4 million tons of catalogs and other direct mailings ended up in the U.S. municipal solid waste stream – enough to fill over 420,000 garbage trucks. Parked bumper to bumper these garbage trucks would extend from Atlanta to Albuquerque. Only 32% of this ad mail was recycled. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
- The production and disposal of junk mail consumes more energy than 2.8 million cars. (New American Dream calculation from U.S. Department of Energy and the Paper Task Force statistics)
- Citizens and local governments spend hundreds of millionsof dollars per year to collect and dispose of all the bulk mail that doesn’t get recycled. (New American Dream estimate from EPA statistics)
- California's state and local governments spend $500,000 each year collecting and disposing of AOL’s direct mail disks alone. (California State Assembly)
Incredibly Popular with Industry, Not with Citizens
- U.S. companies sent 35 billion pieces of direct postal mail in 1980, 64 billion pieces in 1990, and 90 billion pieces in 2000. (U.S. Postal Service)
- One study says Americans throw away 44% of bulk mail unopened, yet still spend 8 months per lifetime opening bulk mail. (Consumer Research Institute)
- Fifty-five percent of Americans “dislike” and 26% “despise” getting internet disks in the mail, while 1.9% “really appreciate” them. (June 2002 Opinion Research Corporation International Poll commissioned by New American Dream)
- Ninety-one percent of all U.S. adults have heard of the National Do Not Call Registry. More than half of all adults report that they signed up and now receive far fewer telemarketing calls or none at all. (February 2002 Harris Poll)
A Solution
Citizens have the right to post a ‘No Soliciting’ sign on their driveway, turn off the TV and radio when unwanted ads come on, and sign up for the popular DoNotCall.gov telemarketer registry. Likewise, they should have the right to opt out of ad mail with an easy-to-use Do Not Junk registry [3].