Another tip for people who love mail: Postcrossing! You send postcards and get postcards back from other people in random countries. Makes the trip to the mailbox fun again. :)
Just ran though this list and took our address off a bunch of things. The ones we've found most wasteful are the Save coupon things; not sure how they'll stop delivering to us when they're only ever addressed to "RESIDENT" with no actual address on them (Akin to EDDM) but we'll see!
I came across this post in a daily email newsletter. And ran through all of these. Thank you SO much! I’ve been tired of junk mail for YEARS! It causes me stress because rather than go through it immediately it ends up piling up. So now I have a reason to go through it and see it trickle down to nothingness. I’m bookmarking this post for when some of the temporary ones expire or in case I move in the future. Thanks again!
I love this newsletter David! Based on your recommendation a couple years ago I did the PaperKarma and now I only go through the mail once a week, if that! Now with all your tips I have other new things to try :)
Excellent. I’ve been fanatically unsubscribing to emails for over a year but I am convinced that just sends my email address to more and more spambots...they just keep coming. Using some of these tips for snail mail now. On the EDDM, I wonder if anyone ever marks them “return to sender” and dumps them back in mailbox.
Ironically I subscribe to the usps mail delivery email which just clutters my email inbox even more.
‘Return to sender’ function is only for first class mail. Bulk mailings are standard mail. In order to use ‘return to sender’ it would require additional postage, so your carrier won’t pick it up from your box. If you put it in a public mail box, it still won’t go back to sender, it will be thrown away by postal clerks. The sender will not be bothered at all, but your carrier will and that’s not the goal. On a similar subject, putting the contents of advertising mail into the included prepaid envelope does, in fact, cost the sender money. They pay for every envelope they receive and it’s usually more than 1st class postage.
The best tool I've found for eliminating junk postal mail is the Prohibitory Order that you file with USPS on every piece of junk mail you receive. This just works if you're willing to take a few minutes for each junk mailer you get. Of course, this doesn't work for saturation mailings (nothing stops that abusive system!). Google "USPS form PS1500" to get the form. Print it out and fill it out, mail it (just send the one page complaint form -- other pages are included with the form that describe the system) along with the opened offending mailpiece back to USPS (USPS address is in the form package). USPS then notifies the mailer, telling them to stop sending mail to your address. If you get another mailpiece from that mailer, you file a second complaint (the first notice from USPS usually stops them). USPS sends the mailer another notice and advises them that a third complaint will result in USPS obtaining a court order against the mailer, and further advising that it is a FELONY for them to continue sending mail to your address. That's how I effectively stopped almost all junk mail. Although the USPS Prohibitory Order system was originally meant to stop "erotically arousing or sexually provocative", the determination of what is erotically arousing or sexually provocative is left to the sole discretion of the recipient of the mailpiece -- that's you! Your application for a Prohibitory Order CANNOT be refused even if there are no pictures on the mailpiece! This was challenged by marketers, but upheld in a court of law, and the judge added that the Prohibitory Order was a valuable tool for those seeking relief from junk mailers.
Thanks for this, but it’s impossible to permanently opt out with the form on the website because no address is given, anywhere, except for one they say does not process requests.
I live in Finland and here I learned that simply putting a sticker to your door saying "no advertising, thank you" stops mail-people flooding your door/mailbox with non-sense. It really works.
Another tip for people who love mail: Postcrossing! You send postcards and get postcards back from other people in random countries. Makes the trip to the mailbox fun again. :)
Just ran though this list and took our address off a bunch of things. The ones we've found most wasteful are the Save coupon things; not sure how they'll stop delivering to us when they're only ever addressed to "RESIDENT" with no actual address on them (Akin to EDDM) but we'll see!
I’ve been looking for the way to opt out of CC offers…THANK YOU!!! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
I came across this post in a daily email newsletter. And ran through all of these. Thank you SO much! I’ve been tired of junk mail for YEARS! It causes me stress because rather than go through it immediately it ends up piling up. So now I have a reason to go through it and see it trickle down to nothingness. I’m bookmarking this post for when some of the temporary ones expire or in case I move in the future. Thanks again!
Great! Bookmarking it is a good idea. Which newsletter sent you here?
It was in Morning Brew. 😊
I love this newsletter David! Based on your recommendation a couple years ago I did the PaperKarma and now I only go through the mail once a week, if that! Now with all your tips I have other new things to try :)
I love hearing that!
Excellent. I’ve been fanatically unsubscribing to emails for over a year but I am convinced that just sends my email address to more and more spambots...they just keep coming. Using some of these tips for snail mail now. On the EDDM, I wonder if anyone ever marks them “return to sender” and dumps them back in mailbox.
Ironically I subscribe to the usps mail delivery email which just clutters my email inbox even more.
‘Return to sender’ function is only for first class mail. Bulk mailings are standard mail. In order to use ‘return to sender’ it would require additional postage, so your carrier won’t pick it up from your box. If you put it in a public mail box, it still won’t go back to sender, it will be thrown away by postal clerks. The sender will not be bothered at all, but your carrier will and that’s not the goal. On a similar subject, putting the contents of advertising mail into the included prepaid envelope does, in fact, cost the sender money. They pay for every envelope they receive and it’s usually more than 1st class postage.
The best tool I've found for eliminating junk postal mail is the Prohibitory Order that you file with USPS on every piece of junk mail you receive. This just works if you're willing to take a few minutes for each junk mailer you get. Of course, this doesn't work for saturation mailings (nothing stops that abusive system!). Google "USPS form PS1500" to get the form. Print it out and fill it out, mail it (just send the one page complaint form -- other pages are included with the form that describe the system) along with the opened offending mailpiece back to USPS (USPS address is in the form package). USPS then notifies the mailer, telling them to stop sending mail to your address. If you get another mailpiece from that mailer, you file a second complaint (the first notice from USPS usually stops them). USPS sends the mailer another notice and advises them that a third complaint will result in USPS obtaining a court order against the mailer, and further advising that it is a FELONY for them to continue sending mail to your address. That's how I effectively stopped almost all junk mail. Although the USPS Prohibitory Order system was originally meant to stop "erotically arousing or sexually provocative", the determination of what is erotically arousing or sexually provocative is left to the sole discretion of the recipient of the mailpiece -- that's you! Your application for a Prohibitory Order CANNOT be refused even if there are no pictures on the mailpiece! This was challenged by marketers, but upheld in a court of law, and the judge added that the Prohibitory Order was a valuable tool for those seeking relief from junk mailers.
Thanks for this, but it’s impossible to permanently opt out with the form on the website because no address is given, anywhere, except for one they say does not process requests.
This is the most comprehensive and helpful list for clearing out junk mail. Thank you!
Also catalogchoice.org!
Axciom web link has a transposition with the XC as CX
Your postal service is funded by junk mail. A bit to ponder.
Great list, and PaperKarma is just genius!
I live in Finland and here I learned that simply putting a sticker to your door saying "no advertising, thank you" stops mail-people flooding your door/mailbox with non-sense. It really works.
https://www.catalogchoice.org/ is a site to be taken off catalog mailing lists.
Do you get political campaign mail?
I do, especially if I've just made a political donation, which then gets me on new lists. But PaperKarma helps cut that down.