I hate junk mail and it's not my duty to be quiet about it so that the USPS can make money on it

[CreekDog]

This junk mail is an incredible waste of energy and resources.

It causes litter, it uses fossil fuel, and disposal of it raises your risk of identity theft if you don't carefully shred it before tossing it out.

While there is a right to free speech, there is no sacred right to inundate my mail box at fire sale prices for the purpose of trying to sell me something I don't want and in fact, don't want to hear about.

Something has got to be done about junk mail, junk phone books and junk newspapers that are delivered unsolicited and use precious fuel to produce and then destroy --that is, if they don't end up in our waterways as litter anyway.

I respect mail carriers and want them to be gainfully employed, but I refuse to accept the false dilemma that we must be inundated with junk mail and junk deliveries in order ensure that.

:rant:

(yes, i know the USPS doesn't deliver most free newspapers and phone books)

[Romulox]

1. There is no right for commercial speech (spam) to be subsidized by the taxpayer.

[kick-ass-bob]

4. You actually have that backwards.

The junk mail subsidizes the mail service, so you get cheaper prices on mail delivery. It's like viewing ads on the net in order to get a free service versus no ads and paying for it.

[CreekDog]

8. our postage rates are being subidized by harming the environment.

and bulk rates means it's cheaper for them to mail crap than for me to mail a letter

but nevermind that. i don't want the crap. the crap is a nuisance and a blight and it raises our costs in terms of what we pay for waste management and recycling.

[kick-ass-bob]

11. I didn't say it was a good system, just that he had it backwards.

Bulk rate mail quantities will drop if the rate is higher and most likely bring in less money, depending on elasticities, thereby raising rates for other mail. Does that counter the rates for waste management? I doubt you would see a big enough drop in those costs, but of course, this is not a study so I don't know for sure.

[CreekDog]

13. and the benefit tto the environment?

:shrug:

[kick-ass-bob]

16. OK. :/

I merely replied to the taxpayer subsidization of junk mail. If you want to argue the environment is also subsidized by the taxpayer, then every single business in existence is also subject to this argument because they all use resources that do some damage or another. I was looking at the things that make it different than anything else.

If junk mail did not work, then companies would not be using it. Simple as that. Bravo for you to try to stop it, at least in your case if nothing else.

[CreekDog]

18. I'm not against subsidies altogether --they have their purpose

but the way the junk mail "works" is that they send out a thousand and get a few replies.

yes, that may make them money or get them customers, but it's a hellish price for the rest of us to pay for something we don't want.

[kick-ass-bob]

21. I wonder what the price tag would be for addresses to "opt out"

of junk mail? With the junk mail, postage is a certain price. Without it, it would be another price. If they could make up the difference, much like some websites do, by charging a fee - would that be a satisfactory solution? Because it's going to cost you in some way to have the service.

[CreekDog]

22. Actually the reason they are mailing so much of it to us is that it's not working anymore

the response rates are undoubtedly going down. at some point, it will not be cost effective --and without reduced rates for bulk mail, it's probably not cost effective now.

[truedelphi]

20. That was somewhat true until in Spring 2007, the Democratic

majority Congress voted a huge increase in mail costs for small businesses while allowing one of the Big Giant Corporations (Time-Warner?) to have a major break.

Small business is now not only making much higher tax obligations - we also are paying a lot more at the post office to pay for books, magazines etc that our customers have ordered.

[Romulox]

25. Logic problem: the post office consistently runs at a loss

So it is not correct to claim that junk mail pays for regular deliveries; in fact, junk mail doesn't even pay for itself. :hi:

[Lucian]

2. +1

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. I hear you, and I agree...

In fact, there's a certain bunch of the crap that comes via the USPS, and we have requested that it NOT be delivered to us.

It took a number of calls, but eventually the post office got the message, and we don't get it any more.

Even so, a lot of our mail goes almost directly into the recycle bin.

[CreekDog]

5. Most of my mail, in fact, almost *all* of it goes into the recycling bin

With a portion set aside because it must be shredded first.

And then there's the occasional bill or property tax statement, practically hidden among the detritus that accounts for almost everything USPS delivers to me.

[hlthe2b]

6. I had to go to a PO Box, simply because I get so much junk

and try as I might with all the "removal lists," still get too much for my home mailbox. If I go out of town for more than a day or so, the box spills over and frequently I get too much on a given day for even that to be delivered. So, I am subsidizing at about $140/year--just so I can get my mail.

Yet, I do so with relatively little annoyance, because I DO believe in the USPS and want them to succeed. But yes, I do agree with the OP. It has now become an additional chore each week to shred/dispose or otherwise deal with the junk mail to protect myself against identity theft.

[matt819]

7. You can stop some of it

Sign up at www.catalogchoice.org. Great site, great concept. One central location to get yourself off catalog mailing lists. For a donation, they take it a step further and proactively do their best to get your name off of mailing lists. It really does work. My junk catalog mail is down to almost nothing, and my overall junk mail is down. They've also begun to lobby for better control of direct mailers and to ensure adherence to opt out requests, etc. You really can't go wrong.

No, I'm not an employee - just a happy user/customer.

[WyLoochka]

14. My mail carrier friend told me about

this site. He uses it, so I tried it. My junk mail has been reduced by about 85%.

[IcyPeas]

9. here is a site:

that I used. It has stoped, I guess, 85% of the junk mail I get.

http://www.ecocycle.org/junkmail/index.cfm

[CreekDog]

12. thanks. i'll give it a go.

:hi:

[LiberalAndProud]

10. Me too.

And the Democratic Party is one of the worst offenders in my box. Jeezums. I think they've spent every dime of my contributions trying to get more from me. One wonders, "What's the point?"

[eShirl]

15. can we write "return to sender" and bring it back to the post office?

or "postage refused" or whatever magic phrase

[CreekDog]

17. it keeps coming

have tried that. there are some other partial measures we can do on our own as some posters have pointed out --but it really needs to be addressed by the USPS.

[RebelOne]

19. Whenever I received a credit card solicitation,

I return it with the message that I am in bankruptcy (which I am not now), and it is returned at their expense. Eventually, the offers stopped coming.

[obxhead]

23. Write return to sender on it and drop it in the post office outgoing slot.

How would the post office respond if they had to sort all that junk back out from a large portion of the population doing this?

[MindPilot]

24. How are those sale newspapers not considered litter?

Every week, an advertising newspaper to which I do not subscribe appears in my driveway or on my lawn. There is no address or any other information regarding who I might contact to stop its delivery. Apparently someone drives by and tosses those papers out on every lawn and drive way they can. How is that not littering?

[ieoeja]

26. I love junk mail.

I shred all the really large stuff. When I change trash bags, I dump the shreds into the bag first. This helps soak up anything from the bottles and cans that will go into the trash.

I also keep a sheet of paper towel beneath the bag. That simple expediate, even before I started shreding junk mail, kept my trash can clean for months at a time without changing.


When they finally ban plastic shopping bags, I'll have to look into options for my cat litter and my non-recyclable garbage. For now, I'll stick to the shopping bags.