So, like I said we are attempting to reduce the amount of mail we create. This goes for sending and receiving. Though we do still pay a few bills through the mail and my wife still insists on sending out Thank You cards1.

We feel that reducing our mail throughput helps in a few ways. It's reduces the amount of paper waste, but it also reduces the amount of resources used to transport the mail, and operate the mail system. I wonder how many mail trucks run everyday in the US? Do any of you have a mailman that delivers on foot?

Here are a few things we are doing. These are not earth shattering ideas, but they are a start. Maybe you can add your own ideas.

1. Receive and Pay Bills Online
Like I said, nothing earth shattering here. A lot of people have moved to using online bill pay for the convenience, but it also helps to reduce the amount of mail we produce. We have moved to paying almost all of our bills online, and we have elected to have as many as possible sent to us electronically. That way we reduce some mail two fold.

Update for the hard nosed old schoolers, it's safe to pay for things over the internets. Though there are "hackers" out there, the chances that they care about your bank account are very slim. They have better things to do. Also, there are online bill pay services that make keeping up with and paying your bills easier than ever. A good place to start might be with your bank's web site.

2. Stop Getting Those Monthly Statements
Charities are some of the worst offenders when it comes to extraneous mail. We give monthly to a few organizations, all of which we do by EFT (electronic funds transfer). So, we pay them straight from the bank account, but what do they do? They send us a statement telling us that we sent them money. Really? We have asked the organizations to either send us the statement electronically, or not at all. Sure, we'll take one statement per year for tax purposes, but if possible, we'll take that electronically as well.

The charities we give to randomly are worse. I have enough address labels to cover my entire body with them. Does any one else have this over abundance of address labels problem? I even have one organization that sends me two things every time they have a mailing. I told them to stop wasting my my donations on extra mailings, or I will never give them another dime.

3. Recycle the Junk
It seems like no matter what, I am always going to get some mail that I do not want. I found on the City of Raleigh web site that you can recycle junk mail. So, I have started putting anything that does not have personal information on it in the recycling bin. This includes the envelopes, the inserts, the ads, and all the other junk that comes along with the statements that I didn't want in the first place.


So, those are a few steps we have taken. Feel free to expound on those, or to add your own ideas. Individually, we might not make that much of a difference, but collectively, we have the opportunity to save trees and fossil fuels just by being more responsible about our mail.

1. back I don't get it, but I don't fight it. You've got to choose your battles and that's not one I am going to win. It's just one of her things. She likes to do it. So, I just let it go. I love you honey.

Labels: green