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Since I started following the eight-week plan in Ready, Set, Green, I've been diligent about recycling—it's been an easy way to make a bigger impact with a chore I was already doing anyway. I've gotten especially obsessive about paper: now, instead of just putting cardboard boxes in our bin, I keep track of junk mail, catalogs, magazines, and even used-up Post-Its.
But this week, I take it one step further: I start cancelling our catalogs. I have always hated that we get two copies each of the materials from J.Crew, Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Macy's—plus the random magazines and circulars from local businesses trying to drum up customers. It's not just the paper ads, either: almost every company that sends us catalogs also sends emails at least twice a week. (I'd better unsubscribe from those, too—it's much harder to resist emails titled "Last chance sale!" than to trash a catalog without looking through it.)
So with just a few phone calls, I'm able to cut our junk mail down substantially (assuming the company actually takes my name off the list like I've asked). If I were less motivated to do this myself, I could pay someone to do it for me: junk mail opposition groups like GreenDimes and 41Pounds will take on the project and unsubscribe for us. But I'm happy to do it—especially if it means one less trip out to the recycling bucket.
More about reusing junk mail:
Green Delights of Junk Mail Gift Wrap
Junk Mail Gems
More about avoiding junk mail:
Stop Junk Mail Before it Starts
Got Mail? Here's How to Dump the Junk
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