The Catalog Crunch
Here's what I'd call a "win-win" situation if I didn't hate that expression so much...
If you are at all typical, you probably get at least one catalog in your mail every day. We get at least that much, which (when factoring in the non-mail day of Sunday) is probably close to ten catalogs a week. It's annoying, and worse yet we almost NEVER order from them. When we do? It's online, and we spend more time surfing around looking for other products. In other words, the catalogs are almost useless.
When I get the mail, I stop at the recycling bin and toss about half our "junk" mail directly into the bin. That's a complete waste of dollars by those companies, and natural resources as well.
Because, all those catalogs aren't good for the environment. This isn't a shocking revelation, but one I'd never thought out as much until I saw a few sites that helped. Many of them charge a yearly fee, but now there's a way to clean up your mailbox for free.
Presenting: Catalog Choice. For free, they'll intercede and stop you from getting unwanted catalogs. It's a green choice, and one that makes your life better as well. More after the jump.
Some basic facts, courtesy of the Catalog Choice site:
* Over eight million tons of trees are consumed each year in the production of paper catalogs.
* Nearly half of the planet’s original forest cover is gone today. Forests have effectively disappeared in 25 countries, and another 29 have lost more than 90% of their forest cover.
* Deforestation contributes between 20% and 25% of all carbon pollution, causing global climate change.
* More than one billion people living in extreme poverty around the world depend on forests for their livelihoods.
* There are other significant environmental impacts from the catalog cycle. The production and disposal of direct mail alone consumes more energy than three million cars.
* The manufacturing, distribution, collection and disposal of catalogs generates global warming gases as well as air and water pollution. Reducing the number of unwanted catalogs that are mailed will help the environment.
Is this going to save the earth? Nope. But it sure won't hurt.