time to get rid of Junk Mail

Don't you just hate junk mail  !

Reducing junk mail will reduce paper waste and help the environment. Most of the organizations you deal with will sell your name and address. Every year four million tons of junk mail is sent, and about 40 percent is never opened. Although junk mail can often be recycled, it is made from virgin paper. Recycling takes energy and resources and makes its own impact on environment. Reduction rather than recycling is a much better option. Help the environment and reduce the amount of junk mail you get in your mailbox by following these steps. 1. Remove your name and address from most national mailing lists by contacting the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008. Your request will be active for three to five years.
2. Envelopes with "Address Correction Requested" or "Return Postage Guaranteed" can be returned unopened. Cross out the address and bar code, circle the first-class postage and write "Refused - Return to Sender" on the envelope. The sender will have to pay for the return postage. (Returning bulk mail does no good, because the post office just throws it away.
3. Call your credit card company, and ask them not to sell your name.
4. When you give money to a charity or nonprofit group, enclose a note requesting that the organization not rent, sell or exchange your name and address with anyone else.
5. Have your name removed from nationwide sweepstakes: Publishers Clearinghouse101 Channel Drive, Port Washington, NY 11050. (800) 645-9242, or send e-mail to pch@ant.net. Reader's Digest Readers Digest Road, Pleasantville, NY 10570. (800) 234-9000. American Family Publishers P.O. Box 62000, Tampa, FL 33662. (800) 237-2400.
6. Don't fill out the product-warranty card. They are used to collect information on your habits and income.