Stop Sending Me This Junk

In January I wrote about the Catalog Crisis in America and some solutions to stop receiving millions of unwanted catalogs. That entry has inspired today’s topic of how to stop receiving other types of junk mail that ends up in your garbage and then landfills.

1. Credit Card offers are the worst. According to the Federal Trade Commission, If you decide that you don’t want to receive prescreened offers of credit and insurance, you have two choices: You can opt out of receiving them for five years or opt out of receiving them permanently. Call toll-free 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com for details. The telephone number and website are operated by the major consumer reporting companies. When you call or visit the website, you’ll be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number, name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out.

Remember that if you have joint credit relationships, like a mortgage or a car loan with a spouse, partner, or other adult, you may continue to receive some prescreened solicitations until both of you exercise your opt-out right.

That is good to know. I am going to opt out for sure. I don’t need to waste all that paper or another credit card!

2. To stop the multitudes of AOL online discs, is call 1-800-605-4297. I don’t think you can do it online.

3. That crazy ValPak you get in the mail all the time, but can never really use the 18 carpet cleaners and your not moving soon, so cancel it!

4. Direct Marketing Association has some great tips on their web site as well. Like, How to remove your name from mailing lists. Some consumers would like to receive less advertising mail at home. DMA’s Mail Preference Service (MPS), which was created in 1971, is designed to help consumers decrease the amount of nationally generated commercial or nonprofit mail they receive at home. Here is information on how you can opt out of mailing lists.

Now that we have gone over the serious stuff. Check this web series out, Off The List. This guy, Jonny Hal is on a one person mission to get off all junk mail lists.

Series Preview

[For all the Episodes click here]

It is awesome. I love this guy.

This web series reminded me that we will never get our true voices or message heard through mass media. as their only purpose is to sell advertising. I think we all need to think of how we are going to make a difference. Jonny Hal did it through his webisodes. I am doing it with this blog. The internet is still in it’s infancy, it is the Wild, Wild West, while we can still get our voices heard here we need to. No more complaining that one person can’t make a difference, of course we can, that is just the type of thinking is the people making money off your faithlessness want you to believe.

Wake up!

-Cara

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Reason 19 from, 101 Reasons Why I Am Vegetarian:

Half of every butchered cow and a third of every butchered pig becomes either byproduct material or waste. And “mortalities” are integral to every feedlot and stockyard. What’s an industry to do with all this death and gore? Call the renderer straightaway! Recycling, they call it. Lips are exported to Mexico for taco filling; horns are made into gelatin; other parts are fashioned into drugs, aphrodisiacs, and industrial ingredients. Much is dried to a tacky brown powder to be mixed into chicken and pig feed. The rest is minced, pulverized, and boiled down for cosmetics and household products. Essentially, assume slaughterhouse byproduct is all around you.

Catalog Crisis

I just moved into a new apartment a few months ago. The people that lived here before loved to get catalogs of just about anything I would never want, plus my own small shopping addiction has lead us to receive a fafillion catalogs a month. Most of which get thrown out the day they come in or weeks after they have sat around untouched. If there was a garbage can right there I would throw them away immediately. Are catalogs recyclable? I always wonder about that shiny, colored paper.

I stumbled upon this website while looking for something to write about today and in theory it looks super fly. I have already registered [which is really simple and fast] and am excited to get the mail tomorrow. Hopefully, it will be that awesome catalog, “Shoes for Crews” that the Reyes [previous tenant], who is a school teacher, got her comfortable kicks from.

Anyway, here are the faqs…

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is my personal information kept private?
  Yes. We do not sell, rent or otherwise share your contact details with anyone. Additional protection is described in our security policy.
• I don’t see the catalog I want to decline on your list. What do I do?
  If you can’t find the catalog(s) you are looking for, please help us by suggesting them for inclusion in our database. Just go to the Find Catalogs screen, and click the “Suggest a catalog” link at the top, and enter your catalog title. (This is more efficient than emailing them to us.)
• What if I can’t find the customer number?
  The customer number, usually printed somewhere on the catalog mailing label, uniquely identifies you to the merchant. If you include the customer number when opting out, you will increase the likelihood of the merchant identifying your subscription. If you do NOT have the customer number, or simply can’t find it, don’t worry as it’s not strictly necessary. In this case, feel free to click “Not Available” when opting out. (And if you later find it, you can add it to your opt-out record at any time, on the My Choices page.)
• How do I create additional names and addresses?
  It may be necessary to create additional names, variations of names, and addresses to stop the delivery of catalogs to all members of your household. Once you have created an account, and logged in, you will find a “My Profile” screen, containing facilities for creating additional addresses, as well as additional “names”. (You might use an additional name for a spelling variation of your own name, e.g. “Mr Smith, Anne Smith, A Smith”, or for a spouse’s or child’s name.)
• Can I use your site to opt out of ALL catalogs?
  At the moment, our site only offers opt out requests for individual catalog titles – unfortunately, there is no way to stop all catalogs with one click.
• Can I use Catalog Choice to opt-out of emails, newsletters, etc.?
  No. At this time, we are focused on paper catalogs.
• Is this service available outside the United States?
  No, at this time the service is only available within the US.
• Will signing up for Catalog Choice result in my information being shared with spammers or junk mailers?
  We only provide catalogers with the information they need to take your name off of their mailing list. We do NOT provide them with your email address; and they are not allowed to sell your address to any third parties.
• I love this service! How can I help?
  The benefits to the users, merchants and environment increase dramatically with the growth and popularity of the service. You can help us by using the “Invite a Friend” feature to invite your friends and family members, and by posting one of our linked badges on your own website or blog. Visit the About Us page for more details.
• I’m a merchant, and would like to learn more about how I can benefit from your service.
  Please be sure to visit our merchants website.
• Have another question?
  Please don’t hesitate to drop us a line.

If anyone has used this site before, let us know what you thought.

I’m out.

-Cara