How to OPT OUT of Snail Junk Mail, Part 1, Delisting from the DMA

2009/04/01

How to Stop Snail Junk Mail Part 1

Filed under: HOWTO, Snail Junk Mail, Tiny Annoyances — Dan @ 09:00

Overview

I define junk mail as annoying, wasteful, bulk-mail advertisements many people get every day from the United States Postal Service. Some people estimate the US consumes several tons of paper on junk mail, many of it completely unread. This also requires countless gallons of water, electricity, as well as petroleum moving underutilized paper about. Energy is wasted rushing it from press to post office, from post office to user, and from user to landfill (or recycled…). Energy and environment aside, it’s a Tiny Annoyance to sort junk mail from good stuff, like bills and letters. I hope you agree this is a staggering amount of waste which is just not sustainable.

Monetary Cost: 1 dollar sent to DMA, optionally a stamp, paper and an envelope.

Time Cost: about 15-30 minutes

What can we do?

Continued after the pause..

Know thy enemy: the system as I understand it now

Several major companies gather the names and addresses of people, then broker (at profit) to third part advertisers. Countless ways exist to get on these lists, one of which is probably just being born. I think majority of my junk mail is residual junk mail from previous rental tenants; I think which is called the “Resident Database”.

So a few large players in the game produce lists, and a huge number of companies buy these lists and resell them. Get off the lists, eventually you get out of the system and *POOF* no more or extremely less junk mail. Simple As That!

It’s important to reflect upon the word “eventually” above. As you may have guessed, companies who make lists probably have little economic incentive to remove your info from the list. This, after all, is a world which probably boasts a number of users for a number of dollars. So it might take a month or three to see any impact.

Process

…20% of the work for 80% of the results…

The Direct Marketing Association– How to get De-Listed

To OPT OUT, which is linguistically disguised as “activating your choice preference”, you need to send a formal response to the list-making companies. Sometimes this is done in writing via snail mail, others have websites and phone numbers. Essentially to get less mail, you have to get the list-making companies to remove your info from the list and ask them not to resell the content. I know that sounds like work, but it’s your mailbox, take some responsibility! I’ve done some legwork for you, by googling for various resources to send postcards to.

Go to DMAChoice.org (https://www.dmachoice.org/).
Pick your poison: Online or Paper. Online submission forms require a credit card. Paper requires a check or money order for 1 dollar, a stamp, and an envelope.
List all members from the household, including misspellings on the forms.
Submit!
You should see about 80% reduction in 2-6 months.

Results

I have performed the steps outlined here and it took about 3 months to see a reduction in the volume of junk mail. I have personally gone beyond removing my info from list-making people like the DMA. The above registration however, is just the first step on the road to a junk free mailbox. It is important to note: it’s more of a process, than a state achieved. The good news is that 80% of the work is accomplished in the steps above. Working to correct the last 20% involves focus on identifying what junkmail is currently being sent, then acting on those remaining non-DMA-list-using groups.

My mailbox is now only filled with bills, letters, and catalogs I choose, which is easier to sort and, in my opinion, much healthier for the environment. I’ll continue to post helpful tips in this area. Happy Junk Mail Fighting!

More info and sources

I recommend anyone performing this to briefly review the information at the Federal Trade Commission.

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