I have a really small mailbox so I hate it when the mailman jams catalogs into it and crumples things I actually care about, like a birthday card from my mom or a financial statement that I don’t want to care about but am legally required to by the IRS.
Here is a bit from the Natural Resources Defense Council on why those catalogs are also bad for the earth:
Over 53 million trees are consumed each year to produce paper catalogs. The production of all those catalogs results in 56 billion gallons of wastewater. And when all those catalogs are thrown out it’s approximately 4.1 million tons of waste, equal to the annual waste of 2 million households. An emptier mailbox means less pollution, less waste and less of the emissions that cause global warming.
You would happily do the planet and yourself a favor by getting off catalog mailing lists, if only there were a magical service that would do the annoying parts for you! Enter Catalog Choice, a free online service that sends “do not disturb” messages to the specific retailers that foul up your happy mail-gathering experience. More than a million people have signed up since it launched in 2007. It’s particularly handy if you just got married and are desperately trying to disentangle yourself from the dozens of retailers who offer wedding registries and are still after your newlywedded blood. (Take that, Pottery Barn.)
Laura Wright is the senior editor at OnEarth magazine, a publication of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Category: NY Green
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