This is both an eco-friendly tip AND a tip to save you the annoyance of opening a mailbox full of JUNK!  If you’re like me and half your mail is unwanted advertising, don’t stand for it!  Removing your name from mailing lists is a great step towards minimizing your paper use!  You can put your name on umbrella “No Junk Mail” type lists, but I’ve found that it doesn’t really work… you have to go straight to the source and contact each different company or distributor directly.  Companies are legally required to let you opt-out of mailings, so start making a list of all that nagging mail, open up your laptop and get to work!

Here are the opt-out forms for some companies I’ve found to be particularly nagging.

Valpak Opt-Out:
http://www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm

PennySaverUSA Opt-Out:
http://www.pennysaverusa.com/mailinglist/

RedPlum Opt-Out:
http://www.redplum.com/mailing-list.aspx

Clipper Magazine Opt-Out:
http://clippermagazine.com/mailing_removal.cfm

Googling “Opt-Out of _____ Mailing” or “Unsubscribe from _____ Mailing” will usually pull up a result for the mailing in question.  If not, find a customer service email or phone number for the company, and email or call them directly.  There is no reason to get so much junk mail if you don’t want it!

You can also try using Catalog Trust, a highly rated company that manages unsubscribe requests for lots of major companies.  The only draw back is that you have to create a free online account (I’m sick of creating online accounts for EVERYTHING!)  Check it out:
https://www.catalogchoice.org/

If you have an iPhone or Droid, try using the app Paper Karma (
https://www.paperkarma.com/
).  It hasn’t worked for ALL mailings that I have tried, but it has worked for some!

If you have any other good junk mail tips, please post them in the comments!  It may take several weeks for each of these companies to stop sending you mail, so please recycle the junk in the mean time!

Check back next week for another Go Green Tip of the Week!