Getting rid of junk mail
By Rachael Lundy
It's been days, maybe even a week since you checked your good old fashioned mailbox. The dread of receiving that latest credit card bill is matched by another annoyance all too familiar to college students -- junk mail.
"I think its funny that I get junk mail about erectile dysfunction and I'm a female. What am I supposed to do with that?" said Shirley Clumber.
The good news is there may soon be shelter from the purveyors of penile prescriptions and other junk mail jackals.
A similar campaign to the Do Not Call Registry is soon developing plans, which gives consumers the preference to opt out of junk mail. These individuals would like the choice to not be bombarded with junk mail, just as they have the choice to not be called by telemarketers at all hours of the day. As a result of these nuisances, the Do Not Mail campaign has launched itself as the representative for these proactive consumers.
“American mailboxes are inundated with junk mail,” states www.donotmail.org. “More than 100,000,000,000 pieces of junk mail are delivered each year – that’s more than 800 pieces per household. In fact, junk mail in the United States accounts for one-third of all the mail delivered in the world.”
Receiving junk mail can be a nuisance, but people’s livelihoods depend on delivering this type of post. It takes the efforts of several million employees to pack and deliver junk mail; however, if the efforts of the Do Not Mail campaign take effect, it has the potential to affect the employment of many.
According to Newsmax magazine, “Proponents of direct mail say that 3.5 million Americans directly or indirectly owe their jobs to direct mail advertising.”
Not only are these jobs going to be impinged upon, but the U.S. Postal Service is also going to feel the hit when they are no longer receiving postage payments for these type mail-outs.
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) has researched the potential effects this campaign may have on the “junk mail” sector of the economy, and further expresses its concern for instituting this Do Not Mail campaign. “Advertising mail annually generates about $686 billion in sales revenue,” states the DMA.
As in every situation there are pros and cons when instituting certain policies.
The U.S. Forest Service estimates that 100 million trees are used each year in order to generate this junk mail – junk mail that is left unread and lining landfills.
In the event this campaign’s goals take effect, the environment could strongly benefit from the reduction in paper wastes, and in return, this campaign against junk mail could save U.S. forests and reduce pollution caused by the energy used in creating this unwanted mail.
For more information regarding the Do Not Mail campaign, visit www.donotmail.org.
Originally Published: Issue 662 - August 6, 2008
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