Fun With Junk Mail

Junk mail and I are mortal enemies. It has been my mission to rid my home of it for the past couple years. Actually, it was a fight I had won and forgotten about while we lived in San Francisco. Then we moved. I had to fight this battle all over again.

The first step to freeing your mailbox of this clutter is to make lots of phone calls. This may seem like a nuisance, but in the long run it is worth it. Take a look at the junk mail you are getting. Coupons and advertisements will have a number for those who want to place ads listed. Call this number and tell the person who answers that you do not wish to recieve their mail. You will probably be transferred to the appropriate department. They will take your name and address and tell you that it will take a couple of weeks for the change to be made.

Hopefully this will be enough to stop that kind of junk mail. If you have a mailman like mine, you will have to take extra steps. My helpful mailman decided to change the address on the junk mail from a vacant house down the street to my address. I had to make a call to the post office and speak to his supervisor to stop that from happening. Luckily, it only took one call.

Phone calls can also be made (sometimes websites are available) to credit cards, catalogues and car dealerships, etc.

When I get offers with postage paid response envelopes, I save them. Then I save other junk mail and stuff it into the postage paid envelopes. It is fun to think of the look on someone's face when they open it looking for a credit card application and instead find coupons for mini blinds and carpet cleaning! I know it does nothing to stop the junk mail, but it amuses me!

Right now, there is no way to remove your address from mailing lists like you can with your phone number. The website below is working to change that. To add your name to their petition and learn more about the devastating affects of junk mail on the environment check out this page.
http://donotmail.org/article.php?list=type&type=3