Junk mail monopolizing limited mailbox real estate is not only a colossal inconvenience but a source of environmental distress. With unwanted catalogs, coupon books, and advertisements relegated to trash cans and recycling bins, it’s only a matter of time before landfills and recycling facilities are overrun by unsolicited mail.
Fortunately, you can stop junk mail from cluttering your mailbox. With a few easy steps, you can get your time back and stop filling your recycling bin with unread magazines, sales fliers, and postcards.
Invest in a digital mailbox
A digital mailbox is an offsite service that helps you spend your time doing what matters. With a digital mailbox, a remote service receives your mail, sorts it, and sends scans to your email. With mail management crossed off your to-do list, long gone are the days of sorting high-priority mail from junk mail. These fully staffed digital mailbox locations will shred any spam mail marked accordingly, freeing you from those frequent trips to the recycling bin.
Your digital mailbox service can do more than receive mail and email it to you. The service can also take on other time-consuming back-office needs like sending and receiving fax messages and fielding business phone calls.
Make a call to stop credit card offers
If you want to stop receiving credit card offers, dial 1-888-567-8688 and explain you don’t want any promotions in the future. However, fair warning that this step may not reduce junk mail sent from your actual credit card providers.
Opt-out through the mail
If junk mail is a constant pain in your side, submit a written request to those consumer reporting companies to halt all unsolicited advertisements. But how? First, you’ll need to find the addresses online. Then, the junk-mail-afflicted individual will need to send the letter via snail mail. Make photocopies of everything you send so you have proof. Note that mailing your removal requests eliminates the need to disclose private information on the Internet just to submit an opt-out request.
Opt-out of DMA
DMA (Data & Marketing Association) is where most companies buy mailing lists. To opt-out of the DMA database, you have to fill out a form that you can easily find on their website.
Ask businesses to stop sending catalogs
When you buy something from a catalog, you will have your data stored in Abacus, an alliance of catalog and publishing companies. Reach out to Abacus through email ([email protected]) or mail (Abacus, Inc. PO Box 1478, Broomfield, CO 80038), attaching your full name and address.
Return to sender
You can also remove yourself from mail lists by returning the mail you receive. Don’t open the envelopes but instead write “Refused: Return to Sender” and drop the item in your mailbox. Once the items return to the companies, they’ll stop sending you more mail because they don’t want to keep paying for return service.
The postage-paid envelope trick
Write your return address and name on the postage-paid return envelope. Seal the postage-paid envelope empty, and send it back to the company. This step is similar to the one previously mentioned.
Final thoughts
Although many shrug off junk mail clutter out of sheer laziness, there’s no reason to bear the burden of junk mail management. While a minor inconvenience in the grand scheme of things, you may notice an uptick in motivation when spam mail isn’t crowding your workspaces or living spaces.
