19 Oct
Something to think about: SPAM and Junk Mail
We’re not here to feed you just pure facts, but rather to let you formulate your own opinion. So here is something for you all to think about. Ok, we will be feeding you facts here and there, but don’t just take them for granted. The question remains: how are we supposed to effectively make a difference?
The topic up for discussion today (even though it’s an old one that has been touched thousands of times): the environmental effects of spam and physical junk mail. By spam, we’re talking about all those e-mails in your inbox, your text messages, and even spam comments on websites. (We get quite a few of those here). Those pesky messages aren’t just annoying, they’re slowing impacting our ecosystems. Every action that we take as a species and as individuals impacts the Earth’s ecosystem. Just think of your own lifestyle and multiply it by 6,791,557,648 as of October 19th 21:42 GMT. That’s the current world population as estimated by US Census Bureau. Need money to get you thinking? Let’s say every person in the world has a dollar. That’s a lot of money! Here are some background facts regarding spam.
According to an article from the BBC published on April 16, 2009, it is estimated that 62 trillion spam emails are sent all around the world annually. That produces more than 17 million tons of CO2, which we all know is a greenhouse gas, which plays an important role in current global warming trends. Spam filters might help reduce unwanted spam, but it is far better to get this thing out in the open and fight the battle at the lowest level: the source. McAfee, a notable anti-virus firm stated that a “day without spam amounted to talking 2.2 million cars off the road”. Chew on that! How’d they get their numbers? Our computers use more energy when they are doing work and the additional work our computers do when dealing with spam gives us these magical statistics. Spam bot networks need power to send these irritating messages, too. How do we fight spam? Leave your comments below.
George Blakely, professor of art at the Florida State University makes Junk mail trees.
Thankfully, you can do something about all the junk you get in the mail. Most companies now offer paperless billing, allowing you to save trees! If you haven’t already, check your major providers for electricity, cable, internet access, cell phone coverage, credit card companies, and banks. They probably offer paperless billing. It’s the new thing! Facts: An average household receives junk mail that averages two trees and 92 pounds of CO2 for delivery. That adds up to about 100 million trees each year used to produce all that paper and 28 billion gallons of precious water to make it. Need we go into the energy consumption of the paper industry? That’s a lot of wasted paper if all we’re going to do is toss it without even reading it. Let’s offer up some advice on how to deal with junk mail.
1) You can always get creative. Best of all, this option is free! Write signs on your mailbox or on your door. Things like “No handbills” or “Please save trees. No junk mail!” Make sure you’re friendly and be inspirational. If you have other ideas, post them in the comments below.
2) Call the contact numbers or customer service for catalogs and ask them to take you off their mailing list. You’ll be less annoyed and you’ll be saving the planet one step at a time.
3) Sign up for the National Do Not Mail list brought to you by Directmail.com. They’ll contact mass mailers and let them know you don’t want any more junk mail! Best of all, it’s free. Take 10 minutes and register!
4) What about those solicitations for credit cards and insurance? Want to get off those lists? You can choose to opt out of those lists as well, for a period of 5 years or permanent opt-outs. Just visit Optoutprescreen.com.
Let’s move on to some paid services, if you so choose that are dedicated to protecting the environment and helping you lighten your paper burden.
1) Stopthejunkmail: For $19.95 a year, you can reduce your junk mail by 90%. Easy and simple.
2) Tonic Mailstopper formerly GreenDimes: For $20 a year, they’ll automatically remove you from 5 of the largest mass mailers. They’ll even plant 5 trees on your behalf!
3) 41pounds: The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail a year. 41pounds will help you shed those pounds by contacting the companies and stopping your junk mail. The service costs $41 for 5 years, which equals $8.20 a year. They’ll even donate 1/3 of their fee to community and environmental organizations that will help plants trees!
So how about it? Take the effort to help curb deforestation and consumption of our precious resources that are being used to generate junk mail. Then we can move on and focus on other problems. Be a part of the solution!
Leave comments below, we’d love to hear from you!
The Golden Rule: As the 
