Eliminating Junk Mail

Nearly 4 million tons of junk mail are sent each year in the US. Almost half of this is never even opened. While recycling it is better than sending all this paper to the landfill, eliminating or reducing it in the first place is the best solution. The following tips are designed to help reduce the amount of junk mail that you receive.

General Tips

• To avoid being added to lists when donating money, ordering a product or service, or filling out a warranty card, clearly write "Please do not sell my name or address".
• Avoid sending product warranty cards, if possible. They are often used to collect information about your habits and income in order to target direct mail.
• When on the telephone, ask  "Please mark my account so that my name is not traded or sold to other companies".
• Names are often sold through credit card companies. Call your company and ask them to stop.
• Avoid "contests" where you fill in personal information. These are often used to gain names for mailing lists.
• Use a false middle name or initial for each charity and business you deal with. Remember which ID was given to each organization in order to track who is selling your name. Changing the spelling of your name may lead to duplicate mailings.
• For more information, please refer to the Reducing Unwanted Mail brochure (page 1 and page 2).

Mailing Lists

Write to or call the following contacts to request that your name be removed from mailing lists.

• Mail Preference Service
  Direct Marketing Association
  PO Box 9008
  Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
  http://www.dmaconsumers.org
• Donnelly Marketing, inc
  Attn: Data Base Operations
  416 S. Bell
  Ames, IA 50010
  1-888-633-4402
• Call 1-888-567-8688 or 1-888-5OPTOUT.
  This will remove you from junk mail sent by Trans Union, Equifax, Innovis, Experian.
• First Class Mail: Circle the first class postage, write "refused: return to sender" and cross out the address and bar code. Place in any mail box and it will be returned to the sender.
• Catalogs: Call the 800 number to request that your name be removed from mailing lists.
• AOL: Call 1-800-605-4297 to be removed from the list. Tell them that your name is "Current Resident".