Most of us know it as ‘junk mail’.  In the industry it is called ‘direct mail’ or ‘mass mailing’.  It is a means used, with great success, for finding new customers, or getting old customers to buy more stuff.  But for many or most of us it is a nuisance.  And whether you realize it or not, it is a contributor to global warming.

All of the paper, printing, processing and delivery takes energy to create, fashion, finish and perform… energy which is created largely by burning fossil fuel at present, and thus resulting in truely excess CO2 release.  The problem is compounded by the success at selling more stuff.  We here at the ClimateCorps are believers that our over-consumptive appetites for ‘stuff’ are part of the root cause of global warming, and believe that ‘small is beautiful’, a radical notion in economic circles.

Want to get off junk mail, prohibit or at least inhibit its delivery to your home.  Here are some links to just how to go about doing that.  One is in order warning, however.  While there used to be a completely free process for registering your name and address with the Direct Mail Association, some of these links make nominal charges for the service.  We have not researched just how effective they are at doing what they claim.  But for small money it may be worth taking the chance.  (Always watch out for Internet opportunists!)

• Direct Marketing Association gets you off junk mail for $1
• DirectMail.com will get you off junk mail for free
• Do-It-Yourself to stop junk mail, email (spam) and phonecalls
• JunkBusters also offers to help you stop junk mail