Green Matters™
by Crissy Trask
Welcome to my blog where I share almost anything I think will help make greener living undeniable and simple. News, tips, insight and resources served up weekly. I also share my perspectives on others' perspectives and actions. Agree or disagree, I hope you will find them thought-provoking and a starting point for conversation.
Previous Post...Next Post...Information on Reprints...2010 Blog
AUGUST 5, 2009 Direct mail marketers want to force junk mail on us.
The Direct Mail Association is lobbying Congress to reject any do-not-mail legislation that comes before them. The DMA is claiming that giving U.S. citizens the right to opt out of direct mail marketing will lead to catastrophic losses in business revenue that will cripple the American economy and lead to the downfall of businesses. These are scare tactics that don't make any sense. People who will choose to opt out are the ones that never respond to direct marketing campaigns anyway, but rather have such impatience for the solicitations that they toss them, unopened, into the first bin they can find! Companies can actually save money when honoring opt out requests, because they'll be less likely to send mail to people who don't want it.
The reason legislation is so important is that the means available for opting out of junk mail now are disjointed, non-inclusive and sometimes ineffective. They include:
1. Contacting a business and
asking to be removed from their mailing list. This method is
time consuming and the least effective. (I've called Qwest Communications
four times this year already, and I'm still receiving junk mail
from them!)
2. Opting out of DMA member mailings at dmachoice.org. This will remove you only
from mailing lists produced by DMA members.
3. Opting out of insurance and credit offers from major credit
agencies (Equifax, Experian, Innovis, TransUnion) at optoutprescreen.com This won't completely
stop unsolicited credit offers since not all credit issuers use
the opt out lists compiled by these four credit bureaus.
4. Opting out of catalogs from Abacus Cooperatives at abacusoptout.com The Abacus Cooperative is
only a partial list of catalog and retail companies.
5. Opting out of specific catalogs at catalogchoice.org
6. Signing up with a company that will do all of the above for
you, for example: Mailstopper or 41pounds.
The holes in the current mail opt-out "system" permits the waste of tens of millions of trees each year to produce unsolicited and unwanted mail. National do-not-mail legislation is really the only way to make the direct mail industry efficient and stop the colossal waste.
The DMA is working hard to turn Congress against national do-not-mail legislation. Please go to DoNotMail.org to show your support for do-not-mail legislation.
2009 BLOG INDEX
Posts by Topic
Air Quality
6/8/09, Leaf Blowers:
An Environmental Nightmare
Cleaning
4/14/09, Don’t
Be So Quick to Blame the Low-Phosphate Detergent
Energy
7/6/09, It’s Summer
Time and the Livin’ is ‘Green’!
4/7/09, Window Films Can Lower Your
Cooling Bills and Your Tax Liability
3/14/09, Bundle Your
Gadgets
Food
10/27/09, Super
Freakonomics Authors Come Down Hard on Local Food
10/22/09, Hey Foodies, What
Are You Feeding Your Pets?
Green Terms
5/26/09, A Closer Look
at the Definition of “Recycled” and Some Other “Re”
Words
Plastic, and other Trash
7/13/09, Will a
Ban on Bottled Water Lad to Bad Beverage Choices?
4/22/09, Bottled Water
Gets Reinvented
3/2/09, Inefficient Packaging
Awards (No. 1)
Perspectives
9/14/09, Gullibility
is Derailing Progress
8/24/09, Check
Your Lifestyle Before Bragging About Recycling
8/19/09, Simple
Solutions Won’t Work Alone: Comprehensive is the True Agent
of Change
2/22/09, The Unhappiest Generation
2/12/09, Inauguration
Attendees Fail to Demonstrate Change
Reduce
8/5/09, Direct
Mail Marketers Want to Force Junk Mail on Us
3/21/09, Better
Yard Sales
1/25/09, Wasting Trees:
Why I Hate Junk Mail
Reuse
10/14/09, Wrapping
with Your Butcher
5/7/09, Craigslist
Buyers are A Flakey Bunch on the Whole
Recycling
6/22/09, Not
Separating Your Recyclables from Your Trash Can Hurt
3/4/09, Recycle Your
Water Filters
Transportation
6/15/09, Avoid
Hot Car Syndrome to Reduce Emissions…and Discomfort
Water
3/27/09,
Water, Water Everywhere, but Not a
Drop…
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