Reduce your JUNK mail! Get rid of it!

Waste Fact

• Reducing the cost of waste disposal in the City of Cleveland should be a responsibility of every resident of the city.
• It cost the City of Cleveland $7.3 million dollars to dispose of 301,151 tons of garbage during 2002.
• Without your help, by 2015, the City of Cleveland would pay an estimated $13 million to dispose of its garbage in landfills.
• It is in the best interest of all residents to assist the City of Cleveland to reduce the cost of waste disposal.
• We use about 52 million trees and 25 billion gallons of water to produce one year's worth of junk mail in the United States.
• Individually, an average of 41 pounds of junk mail is sent to every adult each year.
• About 44 percent of this goes unread and directly into the garbage.
• The average adult is on 50 mailing lists.

Why Do I Get So Much Junk Mail?

When you subscribe to a publication, place a credit card order, order items through the mail or the Internet, join an organization, donate to a charity, or enter a sweepstakes chances are your name is being added to a mailing list of some kind. In addition, there are companies who are in the business of selling your name to other companies who believe you may purchase their products or services.

How Do I Get Rid of It?

To reduce junk mail, you need to reduce access to your name and address so that it won't be traded, rented, or sold to companies who send you unwanted mail. This kit will help keep new junk mail from finding its way to your doorstep, show you how to reduce your current flow of mail, and offer recycling options for the occasional piece that sneaks in.

If you do nothing else, follow steps one and two to keep additional junk mail from entering your mailbox. Then you can focus on reducing your current flow of unwanted mail.

Step 1. Prevent junk mail before it starts.

Remove your name from mailing lists of companies who send you catalogs, sweepstakes entries, and coupons by sending a post card to the companies listed below. Include the following information in the letters or postcards:

Your name
Your address, including city, state, and zip code

This message:
"I am instructing you NOT to LEND, SELL, or TRADE my name to any other organization for its mailing lists.
I want to reduce the amount of paper and resources being spent to generate unwanted mail."

Sign your name and date the card.

Send separate cards for each person who receives unwanted mail at your address, and for any variation of your name that you find on your unwanted mail, for example:

Linda Ann Brown
Linda Brown
L. A. Brown
L. Brown

Send the cards to the companies listed below and ask that they remove your name and address from their mailing lists:

The Polk Company
26955 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48034

Mail Preference Service
c/o Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735

Haines & Co. Criss-Cross Directory
Attn: Director of Data Processing
8050 Freedom Avenue., NW
North Canton, OH 44720

ADVO Inc. Delivery Services
6955 Mowry Avenue
Newark, CA 94560

Harte Hanks Direct Marketing List Maintenance
3344 North Torrey Pines court
La Jolla, CA 92037

Carol Wright Gifts Customer Service
P.O.Box 8502
Lincoln, NE 68544

Donnelley Marketing Database Operations
416 South Bell
Ames, IA 50010

When making donations, ordering items through the mail, or subscribing to a publication, include a note that instructs the organization or company to not lend, sell, or trade your name to other mailing lists.

Call the companies listed below and ask that they remove your name from their mailing list. Call these Toll-Free Numbers:

Pennysaver Circulation
800-422-4116
2830 Orbiter St. Brea, CA 92821
(Removal from Pennysaver publication mailing)

Experian Consumer Services
800-407-1088
901 West Bond St.
Lincoln, NE 68521
(Removal from coupon, product sample, and catalog mailings)

Polk Company Consumer Response/Name Deletion
800-873-7655
26955 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48034
(Removal from catalog and service coupon mailings)

1-888-5-OPT-OUT
(1-888-567-8688)

The National Opt-Out Center will remove your name from major credit bureaus including Equifax, Experion, Trans Union, and Novus. As of July 1st, 2003, personal information went public. The four major credit bureaus in the US are allowed to release credit info, mailing addresses, phone numbers, etc., to ANYONE who requests it. If you do not want to be included in this release of your personal information, you can call 1-888-567-8688. This telephone number connects you to an automated system where you will be asked to leave personal information, including your Social Security Number. These agencies already have your Social Security Number. It is the most unique piece of information to match you with the many name variations that are sold within the lists and with which junk mail is addressed to you.

Once the message starts you will want option #2 and then option #2 again. Be sure to listen closely, the first option is only for a two-year period, the second option opts you out FOREVER. You should receive their paperwork in the mail confirming the "opting out" in less than one week after making the call.

Step 2. Reduce your current flow of junk mail.

Remove your name from any mailing lists as soon as you receive an unwanted piece of direct mail. Most catalogs include an 800 number. If so, request that your name be removed from their mailing list (it will take a few months for your name to exit their mailing system). If you receive unsolicited flyers, newspapers, or advertising circulars, call the subscription department, or the company's information number and ask them to remove your name from their list

Some junk mail is marked "address correction requested" or "return postage guaranteed." If your mail has this wording, return it unopened to the sender by writing "Refused-return to sender" on the envelope.

Step 3. Additional Tips for Reducing Junk Mail:

Post Office Change-of-Address Cards
The Post Office rents the information from Change-of-address cards to private businesses. This is how national list brokers, credit bureaus, and others may get your name in the first place. As an alternative solution, send out your own postcards announcing your new address to those whose mail you want to receive. You can also ask the Post Office to hold your mail for pick up until everyone knows your address.

Warranty Cards
It isn't necessary to complete warranty cards to be covered by warranty. The only reason to return a warranty card is to find out about product recalls. If you want to return the card for that reason, only provide your name, address, and product serial number.

Residential Junk Mail Presentations Commercial