When the U.S. Congress passed the National-Do-Not-Call-Registry into law in 2003, and improved it in 2007, it became one of the most popular government programs in our nation’s history. Almost overnight, the Registry stopped millions of obnoxious calls from interrupting the average American’s dinner or Saturday morning sleep-ins. It wiped out the most intrusive, unwanted, and annoying communications development since Alexander Graham Bell implored Watson to “Come here, I want to see you.”
I say nearly, because the DNCR left a few loopholes that continue to annoy us all. Exemptions for non-profit organizations and political calls continue to be allowed. This is a problem, but make no mistake: The Registry has been a stunning success that’s allowed many of us the chance to eat our meals in peace.
Now the Seattle City Council has the chance to right a litany of wrongs when they vote on a resolution to petition the state legislature to ban junk mail. The council will vote for the resolution to create a Do-Not-Mail-Registry on January 11.
I could reel off a massive list of environmental reasons it’s a good idea. The appropriately, and somewhat humorously-named group ForestEthics sent around a blast email to local media chock full of the “environmental impacts” of the local junk mail trade. For the ultimate guilt trip, consider these factoids:
- Almost 200,000 trees are cut for Seattle’s junk mail every year
- Junk mail sent to Seatteites causes global warming gases equal to almost 6,000 cars, due to logging and industrial emissions
- It costs more than $400,000 a year to dispose of Seattle’s junk mail.
That cleanup total, by the way, is paid by us through taxes. So every day my wife pulls the junk mail out of the mailbox and throws it into the recycle bin in one deft move, it’s costing us money.
And did I mention it’s dangerous? Identity theft is a growing threat to all our finances, and one of the most fertile grounds that thieves find your financial records is by trolling junk mail, particularly the credit card offers and credit card checks routinely found in my mail.
All that is vital to the argument, and important to note and act upon. But the fact of the matter is those reasons, while excellent, don’t come close to explaining why I think this resolution and subsequent action at the state and national level is so critical.
I hate junk mail. To me, passive marketing is among the most despicable drawbacks of our democracy. In fact, I don’t like anyone giving me any advertising or offers or coupons or marketing of any kind that I didn’t ask for. I don’t want them calling me, handing me stuff on the streets (even those great brochures on the streets of Vegas), coming to my door, or putting stuff in my mailbox. Look, if I want information, I’ll go and get it. If I’m looking for a good deal, I’ll search the papers or go online.
And, miracle of miracle, our government, that thing that so many fear, that so often falls short of making positive impacts in the lives of its citizens, can severely limit the amount of unwanted waste that is spread around this city, state, and country.
Please, drop an email or make a call to the Seattle City Council and tell them to send a message to Olympia. We’re mad as hell, and we aren’t going to take it in our mailboxes anymore.
It is already possible to stop the vast majority of junk mail delivered to your home/apartment. The “Direct Marketing Association” is a kind of clearinghouse used by many direct marketers to access possible customers through the mail. The easiest way to get off their lists is to go to the following website: http://www.DMAchoice.org and click on the “Direct mail 101…Learn more about direct mail” button at the bottom of the page. On the page that comes up, on the right, click on “register now.” It’s free to register, but there is a $1 fee (what a deal!) for processing your request. On the registration page, there is also information on doing this by mail, by downloading/printing a form (via PDF) and mailing it in.
If you don’t want to use the website, you can simply write a note to the following address: DMAchoice, Direct Marketing Association, P.O. Box 643, Carmel, NY 10512, with your name, mailing address, signature, and check/money order for $1 (payable to “DMA”). Specify that you want off ALL their lists.
To stop most credit card offers, go to http://www.optoutprescreen.com or call 1-888-567-8688.
I did these things several years ago and it has made a HUGE difference in the amount of junk mail I receive.
Are not Postal System issues ALL a Federal issue?
The system is run by a Federal Agency, in a system that is not really part of any city infra structure. How can a city block federal stuff?
Wonder if there are just no problems to solve in Seattle that are the exclusive domain of the SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL??? Passing resolutions like this should make us wonder if they know their job responsibilities at all.
Budget, all well? Housing supply, all good? Traffic problems, all solved? Lost jobs, all coming back? Violence/gangs all under control? Zoning/building agenda all cleared? Best civil rights laws in the world? Codes for the nukes all safe and sound? Airport security under review? Oh, the REVENUE stream is shrinking in this recession, did we deal with that completely?
(junk mail recycles easily – and once a week – I use something – like coupons) Big time NON issue. Big time NOT under council control.
I thought Conlin was feeding this stuff to the city goat herd, no?
Even should this registry succeed it’s not going to prevent the resources for it i.e. the paper from being used. Just because you don’t see it does not mean that it’s all there just going to someone else instead.
Interesting that we assume, in the eara fo massive paper recycling, that old growth forests re going into paper.
I wonder. What percent of paper is now recycled fiber of all sorts?
And, what about the vast lands, millions of US acres, which grow wood fiber, fast renewing trees never intended for park, or recreational uses. In fact those lands are replanted and thus stay in trees for decades – GREEN canopy status intact. Trees that renew, and – poplars now common for fiber grow very fast, not evergreen, and not too pretty. You can’t plant them in this city. Called a trash tree by most.
Trash tree OK = fast growing – crop status for paper. Where is the rub, greenies?
while the usps is managed by the federal government, local governments call still enact laws that businesses, even those outside of the local jurisdiction, have to abide by.
i think this is fine legislation to pursue and while, yes, there are a lot of larger issues to tackle; my hope is that our elected officials can do more than one thing at a time. solving housing, traffic, job and gang problems is not something that can be done in the short term. junk mail, to me, seems like something that could be addressed in 2010 so why not tackle it while working on bigger issues?
and while paper can contain up to 80% recycled material most manufacturers only use about 20%. it has a lot to do with the strength of the recycled fibers and how many times you can recycle the material. sooner or later you need fresh wood pulp even with high recycled content paper. so why waste manpower, fossil fuels and damage the environment by harvesting trees, even fast growing trees, when we can just stop using so much paper?
A loudmouth jerk like you doesn’t make his “living” designing, printing and delivering “junk mail”. Most of those jobs are performed by lower wage scum that must deserve to die. Self righteous jack asses like you earn their money the old fashioned way…….they steal it. You know your job in law or finance. What a great idea, lets send another 100,000 people to the food bank. Not everyone has parents who put them through USC or Brown like you did.
Let’s solve this stupid problem later, when there are some other job opportunities out there. Jerk!