Junk Mail Creep

Just when you think you've got it under control, junk mail creeps up on you again. If you order something online, you will generally begin getting regular catalogs from the company, even if you had previously asked not to. If you wrote to an organization like the Direct Mail Association, asking to get off mailing lists, be aware that they keep your name in their database for only 5 years. So it might be time to make that request again.

Food for thought: Americans spend 8 months of life opening junk mail; 90 million trees are leveled each year to provide the paper for mostly unwanted mailings; out of 5.6 million tons of mailings generated each year, 4.3 million are thrown in the garbage; 340,000 garbage trucks are needed to haul away all the junk mail that doesn't quite make it to the recycling bin.*

In your letter, request your name and address be deleted from all mailing and marketing lists. Provide them with all possible ways of spelling your name, as well as the names of anyone else at your address who does not want to receive junk mail. Be sure to sign and date your letter.

Send your letter to:
Mail Preference Service / DMA
ATTN: Dept. 9407644 P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512
Tel. No.: 212-768-7277

You can also eliminate those pesky credit card offers by doing the following:

There are four credit bureaus: Equifax, Trans Union, Experian, and Innovis. These credit bureaus sell credit information to anyone who would want to purchase their lists. If you don't want your information sold, contact the four credit bureaus and request them not to sell your information. You can contact all four companies and stop them from selling your credit info by calling just one toll-free number: 888-5OPT OUT or 888-567-8688, 24 hours a day.

* sources: Center for Democracy & Technology, Center for a New American Dream, U.S. EPA
Image of artist Anne Cohen with her 5-foot-tall junk mail tower courtesy of Long Island Press