A weekly series, in which I tackle a Q from a reader looking for green advice.
Question: Have you been to Green Dimes yet? Not sure what to make of those guys… Any insights?
- Robert
Answer: Ah — You’re trying to stop the incessant flow of junk mail! Yay!
Green Dimes is the latest company offering a de-junking service. For a dime a day — or about $3 a month — you can employ Green Dimes’ services to get you off junk mailing lists — and stay off. In addition, Green Dimes’ll plant a tree every month you subscribe to its services, which is kinda cool.
That said, Green Dimes isn’t the only company offering this kind of service. 41pounds.org also offers a de-junking service, with a very different model. Named after the stat that the average American receives 41 lbs of junk mail a year, 41pounds.org charges you a one-time $41, which will take you off junk mail lists for 5 years. 41pounds.org also donates over half its profits to support education, conservation and reforestation efforts.
I can’t give you any idea as to the effectiveness of either service, because I haven’t employed them. Cuz I’m all for reducing junk mail, but I’m more into the DIY method.
Yes, it’s true — you can do for free what these services do for you if you pay them. Of course, it’ll prolly take more time, on your part. But I can testify to the effectiveness of this DIY method, which I’ve outlined here.
If you’ve got a few minutes, I recommend that you do it yourself, instead of paying companies to do it for you. Not only will you save money, but you’ll also be able to more effectively reduce your junk mail — because you’re you, and you know where those unwanted mailings are coming from.
One thing to note: You know those crappy supermarket flyers that come like twice a week? It’s quite possible that, despite your best efforts, you won’t be able to get rid of them. The trouble with those is that they don’t have your address printed on them; the mailperson just stuffs a set into each mailbox, even if you’ve tried to opt out. To really get rid of them, you have to have a hear-to-heart with your mailperson — which you may or may not be able or willing to do, especially if there’s a high mailperson turnover in your area –
Update: Stop junk mail: A Complete guide to getting just the mail you want
Hey Siel
Actually you can get rid of those supermarket inserts as they are part of the Penny Saver junk that shows up as well. Every time you get the Penny Saver, there is also a little white card that has a lost child on it. On that piece of paper is a phone number to call, and it walks you through opting out of the Penny Saver and all its extra junk. It is a little disconcerting though, cause all you do is leave a message on a machine, but it does work. It takes a couple of weeks to kick in, but we havent gotten that stuff in months now. Makes going to the mailbox a little bit nicer. Good luck everyone!
Comment by David — January 13, 2007 @ 3:19 pm
Hey David — It appears that your mail person’s way more consciencious than mine. This is the prob: I’ve gotten off the penny saver list — meaning I don’t get the lost child card anymore. This cardlessness is supposed to let the mail person know that I also don’t wanna receive the rest of the supermarket inserts. However, my mail people (both at my old apt. and this one) don’t pay attention to that and stuff the flyers into every mail box despite the fact that there’s no lost child card for me.
I actually even talked to a manager dude at Penny Saver cuz I was peeved by this, but he said that it’s out of his hands, cuz they’ve taken me off their lists; Penny Saver can’t be responsible for the mail person’s not paying attention to this matter….
Comment by Siel — January 13, 2007 @ 5:13 pm
Hi Siel
Well that just plain sucks. Maybe you should cancel everyone in your building’s Penny Saver? :-)
Comment by David — January 15, 2007 @ 10:48 am
Stuff into envelope, send to PennySaver without return address or postage. If we keep doing this, they’ll learn, sooner or later…
Comment by Robert 'Groby' Blum — January 15, 2007 @ 9:55 pm
Intersting plan! Though I wonder if there are enough actual people working at PennySaver to take note –
Comment by Siel — January 15, 2007 @ 9:57 pm
I joined Greendimes last month when I first heard about it. I tried many times to get off catalog lists but anytime a place a new order I end up back on the lists! So far the customer service at Greendimes is excellent. Less catalogs are coming in the mail but I’m not totally convinced it’s from the work of Greendimes just yet…we’ll see. I don’t mind trying it out for one year because that’s 12 trees that wouldn’t have planted on my own and I’m supporting a sustainable business with very good intentions.
Comment by Kristen — January 24, 2007 @ 10:58 am
Hey Kristen! You’ll have to let us know how things go as time passes. I’m v. curious –
Comment by Siel — January 25, 2007 @ 11:09 pm
Do Not Mail Opt-Out Law would be fair to everyone.
The proposed statewide “Do not mail” is an Opt-Out law. Only those not desiring advertising mail need opt-out. Anyone desiring advertising mail can do nothing – and continue to receive it. Why deny those wishing to avoid advertising mail the power to do so?
I do not consider handling unwanted advertising placed against my will on my personal property to be a civic obligation!
The US Supreme Court said in the Rowan case in 1970, ““In today’s [1970] complex society we are inescapably captive audiences for many purposes, but a sufficient measure of individual autonomy must survive to permit every householder to exercise control over unwanted mail. To make the householder the exclusive and final judge of what will cross his threshold undoubtedly has the effect of impeding the flow of ideas, information, and arguments that, ideally, he should receive and consider. Today’s merchandising methods, the plethora of mass mailings subsidized by low postal rates, and the growth of the sale of large mailing lists as an industry in itself have changed the mailman from a carrier of primarily private communications, as he was in a more leisurely day, and have made him an adjunct of the mass mailer who sends unsolicited and often unwanted mail into every home. It places no strain on the doctrine of judicial notice to observe that whether measured by pieces or pounds, Everyman’s mail today is made up overwhelmingly of material he did not seek from persons he does not know. And all too often it is matter he finds offensive.â€
Furthermore, the Supreme Court said, “the mailer’s right to communicate is circumscribed only by an affirmative act of the addressee giving notice that he wishes no further mailings from that mailer.
To hold less would tend to license a form of trespass and would make hardly more sense than to say that a radio or television viewer may not twist the dial to cut off an offensive or boring communication and thus bar its entering his home. Nothing in the Constitution compels us to listen to or view any unwanted communication, whatever its merit; we see no basis for according the printed word or pictures a different or more preferred status because they are sent by mail.â€
We need a nationwide “Do Not Mail†law to create a one-stop, convenient place for homeowners to give senders the aforementioned affirmative notice that we do not want certain kinds of mail sent to our homes. http://www.nomorejunkmail.org
Signed,
Ramsey A Fahel
Arvada, CO
Comment by Ramsey Fahel — February 22, 2007 @ 4:20 pm
Hey Ramsey — I’m totally with you! The No More Junk Mail site you sent me to seems like it has to do exclusively with CO residents, yes? I’m wondering what it would take to make it a nationwide thing –
Comment by Siel — February 23, 2007 @ 7:47 pm
US Postal Service won’t let you refuse mail.
If the US Postal Service would abide by its own rule, each homeowner could easily stop junk mail from getting into their mailbox by putting a written notice on their mailbox expressing their preference.
The US Postal Services practices are supposed to be according to the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM). The DMM contains provision 508.1.1.2 that says, “Refusal at Delivery: The addressee may refuse to accept a mailpiece when it is offered for delivery.†I interpret this rule to mean that if a homeowner wants to refuse an unwanted mailpiece (i.e. junk mail), the homeowner can do so when the mailpiece is offered for delivery. More to the point – refuse it before it is put into the mailbox!
In practical application, since the postal carrier comes to homes at different times each day, the homeowner cannot be waiting at the mailbox to dialogue with the mail carrier about each mailpiece. The only realistic way to interpret 508.1.1.2 therefore is that the homeowner should post a notice on the mailbox telling the postal carrier about the homeowner’s preference. The notice to the postal service must be specific and unambiguous. For instance, a homeowner should certainly be able to write, “No mail that is not addressed to the Jones†because that does not require the postal carrier to make a subjective judgment. On the other hand, it would not be acceptable to write “no junk mail†because the definition of “junk mail†is subjective and the mail carrier cannot decide.
Unfortunately, the US Postal Service has written to me that they will NOT honor a notice refusing mail, not matter how specifically it is worded, because the postal carrier does not have time to sort through the mail at my mailbox to pick out the pieces that are not addressed to me. Therefore, the US Postal Service is passing their sorting and disposing task onto me by putting all the mail they want into my mailbox, even though this seemingly violates 508.1.1.2.
Since the U.S. Postal Service will not abide by 508.1.1.2, homeowners need to stop unwanted mail at the source (i.e. by blocking the sender from sending it). We need a nationwide “Do Not Mail†law to create a one-stop, convenient place for homeowners to give senders notice that we do not want certain kinds of mail sent to our homes.
http://www.newdream.org/emails/ta19.html
Signed,
Ramsey A Fahel
Comment by Ramsey Fahel — March 16, 2007 @ 7:13 pm
The problem with 41 pounds is that they have yet to show what they have donated to education, conservation, and reforestation. They may say ‘over 50% of profits’ but they have yet to show any proof. I don’t buy it! Where as if you go to greendimes.com there is actual documentation of how many tress they have planted and exactly how you are making a difference. I just joined greendimes a couple months ago and I have been junk mail free!
Comment by Nicole Stewart — April 18, 2007 @ 3:23 pm
i hate junk mail, i wrapped it up and put “refused return to sender” on it. it still sits in my mail box, a month now, if it was regular mail it would have been taken to the post office for me to retrieve there. anyway, ive decided take all junk mail mark it “refused” and drop it in a street site mailbox.
the post office doesnt want to stop the junk mail because they get significant monies for delivering those weekly junk mails. a mail carrier,ex boyfriend, once told me that its a main source of revenue for the post office.
as far as the junk mail with my name and address on it, i will gather it and send it back to the source and let them deal with it.
its such a sad waste of trees, when i had a house i would just put it in recycling, but now i have a condo apt and no convenient recyling available. all that junk mail just adds to the dump sites and further polutes our land.
Comment by wanda — April 23, 2007 @ 11:54 am
Hey Nicole! Glad to hear Green Dimes has been working out for you :)
wanda — I hear you with the junk mail hatin’, but unfortunately, trying to send it back to the sender generally doesn’t actually decrease the amt of junk mail :( From what I’ve gathered, the groups sending ‘em just ignore the returned mail (I’m sure there’s a lot of it), and only take you off the list if you specifically follow procedures to stop it from coming. But do let me know if you feel that the “refused by sender” deal’s been effective in reducing junk mail — if so, more of us could try it –
Comment by Siel — April 23, 2007 @ 10:12 pm