Are you tired of having junk mail pile up on your counter? After receiving more than fifty pieces of junk mail last month ALONE I finally had enough. I put out a call to other zero wasters and asked, “How are you stopping unwanted mail from entering your home?” I got some pretty good answers, some of which require more work than others. I have tried all or most of these tactics and hope they are successful for you.
Use the PaperKarma app
PaperKarma is a free app that unsubscribes your from junkmail. You simply create an account, take a picture of the piece of unwanted mail, upload it to the app, and PaperKarma takes care of the rest! To be honest, I tried this for several months but didn’t have much success. Even after submitting pictures via PaperKarma, I continued to receive junk mail from the same vendors. However, other zero wasters told me that they love this app and have found it super useful in preventing unwanted mail from entering there home. Give it a try – it’s free!
Call companies indivudally
I have found that calling each company responsible for your junk mail is the only way to ensure that you stop receiving mail from them. It is the most time intensive process for sure, but totally worth it. In addition, be prepared to wait several months to cease receiving mail from that organization after you are removed from their list. Why is it such a process for them? Who knows.
Use DMAchoice.org
This website was recommended to me by several people. DMAchoice offers consumers the ability to decrease their unwanted mail. They have organized mail into four categories:
- Credit Offers
- Catalogs
- Magazine Offers (this includes subscription offers, newsletters, periodicals and other promotional mailings)
- Other Mail Offers (this includes donation requests, bank offers, retail promotions and more)
You can elect to stop receiving mail from each these categories. Or, if you prefer, you can choose to stop receiving mail for all companies you haven’t purchased from or donated to within an entire category. This service will cost you $2 for ten years.
Mark “return to sender”
Several people told me that they return the mail to the company by writing “return to sender” on the front. There are mixed reviews about how long this will take a company to remove you from their list as they may continue to send you mail.
—
Do you have any tips on how to eliminate junk mail from your life?
You can also email the company with your customer ID on the mail label and they will stop… worked for me!