Frequently Asked Questions about Junk Mail
FAQs about Junk Mail
> Why should I care about junk mail?
> Is there anything I can do to stop junk mail on a larger scale?
What is junk mail?
Junk mail consists of all the credit card offers, catalogs, flyers, coupons, phone books and other mailings you didn't ask for and don't want.
Why should I care about junk mail?
Junk mail comes at a huge cost to our quality of life. Sorting, reading and recycling junk mail takes time away from your daily activities—you could spend up to eight months of your life dealing with junk mail. Eight months! Junk mail endangers your privacy by sharing your name, address and purchasing habits with marketers around the country. It fills your mailbox with credit card offers and other mailings that could put your identity at risk if in the wrong hands. Junk mail also results in clutter, yet another blow against your quality of life.
We have the power to reverse all of these negative impacts by simply choosing to receive only the mail we want.
Support legislation to reduce junk mail and other unwanted solicitation
Many states are considering legislation to create do not mail registries similar to the current do not call lists. Find updates on proposed state do not mail registry bills.
Seattle, WA is the first U.S. city to regulate the distribution of unwanted phone books. Residents and businesses can unsubscribe from phone books and distributors must honor these requests. Phone book distributors will pay the city 14 cents per book annually to cover the city's costs of managing phone books, based on the product stewardship principle of holding manufacturers responsible for covering the costs to recycle their end-of-life products.
San Francisco, CA now requires phone books can only be delivered to residents and businesses who wish to receive the phone books, and prohibits the common practice of dropping unsolicited phone books on every doorstep in the city.
