Environment: Reduce -- Starting with Mail

Ah, so many possibilities. But we're starting with waste reduction today--specifically mail. No, I'm afraid it's not that sexy. Honestly, mail is pretty much the most consistent influx of waste we have (daily).

Some interesting factiods I found about junk mail:

• In 2005, 5.8 million tons of catalogs and other direct mailings ended up in the U.S. municipal solid waste stream. Less than 36% was recycled. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
• The production and disposal of direct mail consumes more energy than 3 million cars. (New American Dream calculation from U.S. Department of Energy and the Paper Task Force statistics)
• Americans throw away 44% of bulk mail unopened, yet still spend 8 months per lifetime opening bulk mail. (Consumer Research Institute) [Holy cow! Ridiculous, and yet likely true...]

For more interesting factoids, and the source for the above, check out: http://www.newdream.org/junkmail/facts.php

Junk Mail. Goodness, I hate junk mail. There doesn't seem to be a sure-fire way to rid us completely of the junk mail. There are a few options, and they are a good start (but time will tell):

• The Direct Marketing Association can be used to remove your name from certain junk mailing lists.
• Tired of credit card offers? You can call this number to be removed from all three credit reporting agencies' mailing list (which is where a good number of credit card offers originate): 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688)
• If you have a business that gets junk mail, this link might be of use: http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/nwpc/bizjunkmail.htm

Bills. Most of our bills can be delivered electronically, with the odd exception of our water bill. We can get bills online easily enough. We pay for bills electronically anyway, why not make the entire process paperless?

Bank Statements. Both of our banks have the option for electronic statements. Signing up for electronic statements should be easy.

Investments. We have some investments, and we get a ridiculous amount of paper from them -- ironically, although we invest electroncially, we receive paper confirmation of the investments *and* additional investment coupons. Let's see if we can go paperless all around.

I will be interested to see if our mail volume decreases (fingers crossed!), or if I missed categories.