Stop the catalog avalanche
Watching a recent episode of Bill Moyers Journal on PBS, we learned about CatalogChoice.org, an organization helping people who want to extricate themselves from the catalog avalanche that’s buried them and filled their mailboxes to overflowing. Similar to the “Do Not Call” service that prevents you from receiving telephone solicitation calls, CatalogChoice.org helps you reduce the clutter of catalogs crowding out the mail you really want to see in your mailbox.
Benefits of using the free service at CatalogChoice.org
- Reduce mailbox clutter and save time you spend sorting through unwanted mail.
- Help merchants lower their cost of distribution and better target their market. (Who knows, maybe they’ll pass the savings on to their customers.)
- Catalog Choice community collectively promotes the use of best practices in the direct mailing industry.
- Make a huge positive impact on our environment, by reducing energy consumption, carbon emissions, and the destroyed forests that result from the current annual production and discarding of more than 19 billion paper catalogs.
What effect do catalogs have on our environment?
- Over eight million tons of trees are consumed each year in the production of paper catalogs.
- Nearly half of the planet’s original forest cover is gone today. Forests have effectively disappeared in 25 countries, and another 29 have lost more than 90% of their forest cover.
- Deforestation contributes between 20% and 25% of all carbon pollution, causing global climate change.
- More than one billion people living in extreme poverty around the world depend on forests for their livelihoods.
- There are other significant environmental impacts from the catalog cycle. The production and disposal of direct mail alone consumes more energy than three million cars.
- The manufacturing, distribution, collection and disposal of catalogs generates global warming gases as well as air and water pollution. Reducing the number of unwanted catalogs that are mailed will help the environment.
Facts above come directly from CatalogChoice.org website.
Remember, if you’re truly wanting to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive, get your name on the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service which can significantly decrease the amount of national advertising mail you receive. You can also opt out of pre-screened credit card and insurance offers by using OptOutPreScreen.com or calling 1-888-567-8688.
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