Frugal Friday- Stop the Mail
A few months back I signed up at campaignearth. I am always up for a challenge and so far the ones I have received have made it easier to slowly step into a more green lifestyle. A little bit, a month at a time. I have been told before that it takes a month to change a habit so the time frames of these challenges couldn’t be more perfect.
My first assignment was one of the most difficult ones and definitely took the most time to complete. The benefits I have received from that month are long lasting and have helped me save in quite a few unexpected ways. The challenge to “Lessen your junk mail and catalogs” really opened my eyes to several things.
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I couldn’t believe how many catalogs I actually received in a month! 25 To be exact. Why is it LL Bean sends me like 3 catalogs a month?!
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A lot of my catalogs come from green type of companies, yet when I call to cancel them sending me catalogs, they truly sound confused, even when I explain why. How green are these companies, really?
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With less catalogs to sort, my time going through mail is greatly reduced, as is my clutter.
- Without catalogs to look at, my “wants” have greatly decreased. My needs and wants are easier to stick to without catalogs to tempt me. (I am a huge catalog/Internet shopper)
Now, if you really want to be frugal, like I did, then as your catalogs come in create a list of them. This is helpful if you get 3 LL Bean catalogs like me and have a horrible memory. Plus in the end it really is surprising to point how much junk mail you receive in one month. Call a few companies a day and simply ask to have them remove your name from their mailing list. A few of my catalog companies I love and still want notice of special sales, so I asked them to sign me up for their email list to get these notifications. Almost every place I called said it may take up to 3 months to stop receiving their catalogs, but once they stop dwindling in, enjoy! I am loving it!
If you want to accomplish the same result but cannot picture yourself calling up all these people, well, there is something for you too! There are at least 100 hundred different companies that for a minimal fee will take care of getting rid of your junk mail for you. This is one of my favorites because they also plant trees for you too!
So, lets review, how is this going to make you more frugal? Well, time is money, right? You have less mail to go through and less clutter. You will have less temptations to pick up one of those must have doo-dads that you would of never needed until you saw it in XYZ catalog. Plus, (with me you KNOW there is ALWAYS a plus) you will help save trees, and reduce pollution. From completing that challenge I helped save 8 pounds of CO2. So there you have it! Three ways to be frugal - time, money and the environment.
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6 Responses to “Frugal Friday- Stop the Mail”
May 5th, 2007 at 6:02 am
Do Not Mail Opt-Out Law would be fair to everyone.
The proposed recent “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.”
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.”
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.newdream.org/emails/ta19.html
Signed,
Ramsey A Fahel
May 5th, 2007 at 6:34 am
I went over to www.newdream.org and signed a petition to stop the junk mail. I urge my readers to do the same. Wouldn’t it be nice to stop receiving all those unwanted credit card applications? Click around over there. They seem to have a very imformative website. Thanks, Ramsey, for stopping by and leaving that information!
May 5th, 2007 at 6:43 am
When I was clicking around more over there I found this:
Sick of Credit Card Offers?
The main consumer credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, maintain mailing lists that are often used by credit card and insurance companies to send out Junk mail. The good news is that you can call a single number to get your name and address removed from the mailing lists circulated by all three agencies (as well as that of a fourth company, Innovis).
Just call: 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688)
The number - which connects you to a recorded message - works 24 hours a day. You will be prompted to give your full name, address, telephone number and social security number. (People often ask about the necessity of giving their social security number. The credit bureaus already have access to people’s social security numbers, and claim that they ask for the numbers here to confirm the requests). When given options, press 3 to have your name removed permanently, or press 1 to have your name removed for just two years.
New Assignment!
May 6th, 2007 at 7:40 am
I have got to do this, like you said not only is junk mail annoying it is wasteful. I love your tips on green living. You are like my little green conscience.
May 6th, 2007 at 9:54 am
I loathe junk mail, and it always seems to be about the same stuff, windows, carpet cleaning and the like, which are so infrequently done by so many people that it seems stupid to send out advertising on a weekly basis.
Thanks for the info!
May 6th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
This is an awesome post, esp. since Aaron and I saw An Inconvenient Truth last month, and are really on a green jag. Already switched to all fluorescent bulbs, this will be my next step! I’ll check out that web site too. Nice seeing you on Twitter :o)