Our Planet
December 31 2011

There are 2 types of junk mail; addressed and unaddressed. 

  1. Addressed mail (admail as referred to by direct marketers) is addressed to you with your name and address. This is because you appear on a mailing list somewhere. 
  2. Unaddressed mail, is pure junk, usually in the form of grocery store flyers, flyers from realtors and anything else that is unsolicited. Unaddressed advertising mail is one of Canada Post's fastest growing revenue streams -- it brought in $339 million in 2006, up 14.4 per cent from 2005.

In Canada, Unaddressed mail:

  1. Put a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your mailbox.
  2. Download this letter and mail it to Canada Post to get your name removed from the unaddressed mail distribution list.
  3. Check out the Red Dot Campaign a Canadian campaign to stop junk mail
  4. If, despite having mailed this letter to Canada Post, you still receive flyers (please note  they are required by law to deliver anything from the city or government) call Canada Post at 1 866-607-6301 and make a complaint. You should stop receiving it within 2 days.

In Canada, Addressed mail:

  1. Register with the Canadian Marketing Association’s “Do Not Contact” registry. This will reduce the amount of marketing offers received by mail, telephone and fax.
  2. Contact that organization that is mailing you and asked to be removed from their mailing list. In accordance with the Canadian Government, they must do this within 6 months. Should they not, you might be able to file a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner thanks to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) if you feel the privacy of your information is at stake.
  3. While you’re at it, get off the Yellow Pages mailing list as well.

In the United States:

There does not exist a national DO NOT MAIL REGISTRY and there are thousands of independent direct mailing companies. However, here are 7 things you can do to help cut down on junk mail.

  1. Put a NO JUNK MAIL sign on your mailbox.
  2. Fill out the DO NOT MAIL form which will at least take your name off some of the biggest junk mailers list.
  3. Check out DO NOT MAIL to participate in numerous petitions and Care2 for other examples.
  4. Register with the Direct Marketing Association to have your name taken off prospect lists.
  5. Stop receiving credit card offers by contacting the four main credit unions (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian and Innovis) in one fast swoop by calling 1 (888) 5 OPTOUT.
  6. Contact USPS to see if there is anything else you can (things might improve since my post).
  7. While you’re at it, get off the Yellow Pages mailing list as well.
 
December 30 2011

Fabulous link, the Red Dot Capaign to save our trees. CTV News article

From the Canadian Marketing Association: Consumers interested in reducing unwanted telemarketing calls should register their phone number with the National Do Not Call List operated by the Canadian government. For more information, visit CRTC’s National Do Not Call List or call 1-866-580-3625 (DNCL).
 
December 29 2011

Reducing the amount of junk mail you receive will save energy, natural resources, landfill space, tax dollars, and a lot of your personal time. From Canada Post:

To stop receiving unaddressed advertisements such as free samples, coupons, flyers and newspapers, free magazines, catalogues, non-profit and event information, as well as municipal service notices (e.g. schedule of snow removal, changes in garbage pickup, etc.), simply place a note in or on your mailbox stating that you do not wish to receive Unaddressed AdmailTM. If you have a community mailbox, group mailbox or a postal box, place the note on the inside lip of the box. The note should not be placed on the inside or the outside of the door.

The only unaddressed materials that we will continue to deliver are some community newspapers, as well as mailings from the House of Commons, provincial chief electoral officers, municipal electoral offices and Elections Canada.

We are required by law to deliver any mail that bears your address (including some advertising material). Please also note that since Canada Post is only one of many distributors of unaddressed materials, you may continue to receive these materials from other distributors.
 
December 27 2011

2012 New Years Resolution - reduce our carbon footprint by:

  • Purchasing at bulk barn, bringing our own bags, with the objective of not buying unneeded packaging (even if the packaging is recyclable).
  • Reducing junk mail, phone calls, emails - will post some of my discoveries of reductions from the source in future postings. Interestingly, credit card companies are kings at selling your information.
  • Walking more, cycling, car pooling to use our vehicles less.
 
December 26 2011

Happy holidays to all of our friends and clients, here is my favorite video, Our Beautiful Earth, images are taken from David Attenborough's Planet Earth.

I wish for all to cherich our beautiful planet, and find ways to give back and reduce our carbon footprint.

Today Daniel and I donated to WWF(World Wildlife Fund) in the adopt a species program, I adopted a polar bear and Daniel adopted a snow leopard.
 
August 25 2010

Donating Old Computers to People in Need

One of the things I do on the side is help facilitate disabled people getting old computers so that they can have internet access. Some of our clients will donate old computers, I clean them off, fix them up and put them into good homes. If you have an old maybe slow but functional computer, let me know.

I just found out about an organization in Toronto that does similar work, I was thrilled to hear of it through one of my clients this morning: http://www.freegeektoronto.org/

So here's another source of sharing/helping/recirculating/recycling.