Business Junk Mail Reduction Project
Dealing with unwanted mail wastes time and money for businesses! This website contains detailed information and tips that will help you reduce this unwanted mail.
At one office mailroom in the Seattle area, a six-week study showed that the mailroom staff was spending 25 percent of its time sorting Standard Class (formerly Third Class) advertising mail.
At the Minneapolis office of a major financial services corporation, they receive more than 40,000 pieces of advertising mail every month, and discard almost 88 percent of that mail. They dispose of more than 68 tons of unwanted mail every year. The company estimates that it costs them more than $75,000 a year to deal with this unwanted mail.
How much does it cost your business or agency to sort through the unwanted mail, and then recycle or dispose or it? How much time does each individual employee waste handling this mail?
Information is available to help households reduce their unwanted mail, but there hasn't been much help available for businesses. So, after months of research, the National Waste Prevention Coalition put together these resources to help you and your business with this problem. As far as we know, this is the most extensive collection of information on this subject ever assembled. Thanks to all who have helped us compile these resources, and thanks to you for using this website!
The American Small Business Alliance says dealing with unwanted mail is "a drain on the time and resources of any business. "
USE THESE RESOURCES TO REDUCE BUSINESS JUNK MAIL:
- Sign up for the EcoLogical Mail Coalition service to have former employees at your company or agency removed from mailing lists. The EcoLogical Mail Coalition (a private business, totally separate from the National Waste Prevention Coalition) will provide this information to direct mailers, so those names can be removed from their mailing lists. There is no charge to businesses for this service.
- Contact problem mailers individually - Two alternative approaches, including examples and case studies.
- Use this model postcard to send to mailers to get off lists.
- Other strategies for reducing business junk mail.
- If you have asked a specific mailer at least twice to take you off their list, but they continue to send you unwanted mail, use our Business Junk Mail Complaint Bureau. If we get several complaints about a problem mailer, we'll contact them.
- Steps your business can take to keep from getting on mailing lists in the first place.
- If your business is a sender of direct mail, see two examples of how mailers have reduced the amount of unwanted mail they send.
- Frequently Asked Questions (including "Why doesn't the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service work for businesses?", "What is the U.S. Postal Service doing about unwanted business-to-business mail?", and "How do I reduce junk mail at home?").
- Find out who helped put this website together.
- Please contact us: To tell us how your business or agency has reduced the amount of unwanted mail you receive; to tell us about some of the business mailers who send you mail (the Good, the Bad and the Outrageous); or if you have any questions.