Saving the Earth with a smile: reducing your junk mail

You can do two things, right now, that will take you 3 minutes max, save a number of trees [over the course of years] PLUS save you time and effort for years to come*:

1. Opt out of sharing your credit information via credit agencies
2. Contact centralized direct mail service (DMA) to request removal of your info (costs $1)
   

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1) This will stop a huge amount of the junk mail that you get, especially the damned credit card, mortgage and insurance offers.

Call 1-888-5 OPT OUT (1-888-567-8688) 24/7, all you need is your name, current address, SSN & DOB.

2) Use the DMA Customer Assistance website to opt-out of general mailing lists using these directions. You can do it in 20 seconds with this online form. It only costs you $1, and it is well worth the price in terms of trees saved and frustration avoided.

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This saves trees and it saves your the aggravation of sorting out a pound of junk mail every day. Recycling the junk mail is not nearly as efficient or environmentally friendly as stopping it.

What a simple way to use 3 mins of your time for a good cause and out of self-interest. Do it.

Now.

For more suggestions on junk mail reduction, see here and here.

*(Some of the mail will stop within a week or two, but there is a lag time for you to see the total cumulative effect, since so many companies have been given your info. However, they all refresh their databases at least once every six months to troll for credit score changes, and so the effect will show up soon enough.)