Arrrggghhh - the WASTE!
 

So, I have a locked mailbox and being a generally lazy person I attempt to empty it about once a week so it doesnt overfill (god I loved the one at my old house, I could hold nearly 3 weeks with no danger of it overfilling)

So this week I emptied it. The pile was about 8 inches tall and weighed ~10 lbs. (god bless my mailman, he can cram that stuff in) I did a quick sort (absolutely junk vs. could POSSIBLY have some merit so I better at least LOOK at it)

So then I was down to 1 lb in the "at least open it pile"

So then I took THAT pile and opened it and about 0.9 lbs went in the can and I was left with about 0.1 lb in the keep pile.

And of those 0.1 lbs. ONE sheet of paper had something that required me to do something. ONE. A sheet of paper is about 1/6 oz or 0.01 lb. So less than 0.1% of the paper in my mailbox was really of use. The rest was all put straight into recycling and about 8 sheets were filed never to be seen again.

And this is WITH me automatic bill paying and electronically statementing everything under the sun except for a few choice accounts. AND routinely trying to get off mailing lists. SHEESH.

I know. It's incredible. The only thing to do is... move! And don't forward. LOL

Jay

I too get more junk mail then real mail. One of my friends take all of those credit card apps and other junk. Shreads everything but the envelopes and mails the empty envelops back to the company. The postage is always pre paid. She thinks that if companines get enough empties back they will eventually quit sending it. Maybe I'll try it.

I agree - it is ridiculous! No wonder I talk to people at work all the time that are 2 months late on their bill with us and never knew because they didn't bother to open all the mail we sent them - thought it was junk mail! I believe them!

I just shove everything I can get back into their postage paid envelopes and send them back!

I have 2 friends that are postwomen....I figure I am helping them keep their jobs! ;)

Does anybody get bank statements, one for each IRA, CD, annuity or whatever other financial vehicle you have, in a separate envelope for each? Not only is it wasteful of paper, it's wasteful of the bank's $ because they're paying 41¢ or whatever for every single envelope when they could get several of them in one envelope for the same 41¢

:: me me me ::

Unfortunately, it's a worldwide thing. I've just cleared my letterbox - there are fliers from every supermarket, including the ones that are located on the other side of the city which I never go anywhere near, fliers from every possible shop I can think of. And they haven't even started with the Christmas junk yet!

One year, I decided I'd keep all the junk mail I got just to see how much I got in a month. I lasted about 10 days before I couldn't handle it anymore and gave up.

I've thought about getting a "no junk mail" sign to put out, but that would mean I'd miss out on the 2 community papers that come out twice a week, and I actually like those...

we missed getting the mail all week and our box was crammed full - my brother in law got about 7 offers for credit cards... we got stacks of junk - two coupon booklets for the same store... out of everything there was one magazine and one piece of actual mail. Ah - the insanity!

Also - for people who hate getting a zillion statements... some banks like the one i work for are actually CHARGING people to mail them a statement. I think that is kinda crappy - penalizing people for not having a computer in my opinion - but I guess it gets the point across that the bank doesn't want to mail it any more than the customer wants it.

I heard of another extreme, where somebody put a brick into a large envelope and taped the postage paid envelope to the outside of it and mailed it back. :D:D:D

Make sure at the very least that you are recycling all this paper. We put out a full recycle bin every 2 weeks and I would say most of it is junk mail, flyers and the community free newspaper. I like the idea of mailing back the post paid envelope, can you imagine the back log at the post office if everyone did that?

Yeah - our community went to the big recycling trash cans. I think they are roughly 60 gallons? We fill one every 2 weeks easy.

Once my fiance's dad sent back an envelope full of pennies. lol.

Wow. @_@ We don't get that much junk mail around here. We can go for about a week without checking the mail before the box gets full.
we don't have a recycling place here, so I guess it's a good thing we are light on the junk mail.

I don't understand how some towns/cities don't recycle in this day and age (not blaming the people who live there, but the town/city governments). I recycle EVERYTHING that I possibly can. It bothers me that we can only recycle plastics with number 1 or 2. But I recycle ALL my junk mail. You know, you can just throw those paper envelopes with the plastic see-through things in your recycle bin. That amount of plastic isn't going to make much of a difference!

I really want to compost, but we have a SMALL yard, and already have some problems with mice getting in the basement. I don't want to do anything more to draw them to our property. Whenever we move, we want a much bigger lot and then I will compost and put it FAR from the house. The furthest place on our lot from our house right now is only something like 25 feet. Not far enough for me to feel like we won't be attracting mice.

You know I was complaining one day in the grocery store to my friend about the amount of "junk" that I get in the mail, and our mail carrier was there and over heard me....he was mad at me because I said it would be fine with me if they only delivered Mon-Fri and they should cut out all that "crap" that comes....he said to me "no then I wouldnt have a job, this "junk", as you put it helps feed my family". I didnt even know what to say I just walked away.

That sounds pretty rude. There were mailmen way before there was all this junk mail.

Oh and I bring re-usable bags to the grocery store and other stores with me. I can't STAND getting plastic bags and having to just put them in the recycle bin when I get home. Such a waste! The worst is when the bags aren't recyclable and I have to throw them in the trash.

Stick it to the man YEAH! :s:

I always have the groceries put into the boxes that the food comes to the store in, that way I can save the plastic bags, and I usually have some use for the box!

Job for jobs sake? Killing trees, destroying forests, filling landfills to keep jobs? Doesnt seem like a good plan to me. Maybe we can find some other jobs to create that are less environmentally damaging.

What do you want to do ladies...:shrug: Go back to LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE days? ;)

:o OH! :o

My apartment complex has a giant recycling bin by the mailboxes. Every time I check my mail, the fliers and etc. go straight into it, never ever EVER into my home.

Of course, it doesn't do too much good if your lazy neighbors throw trash into the recycling bins...because apparently lifting their arm up high enough to throw trash into the dumpster is too hard? Because it can't be that one is closer...they are right next to eachother!

I get paper bags from the grocery store, then use them for trashbags in the house. This saves not only the plastic bags from the store, but the plastic bags from the trashcan as well.