Environmental Health – Junk Mail

How to Reduce Your Junk Mail

While direct mailings (also known as junk mail) are the advertising media of choice for many businesses and organizations, most residents prefer not to receive the volume of this type of mail that they do.

The typical American household can expect to receive an average of 12 pieces of this type of mail per week. Only about 56% of it is ever opened and only 15% is fully read.

Ways to Cut Down on the Amount of Direct Mailings You Receive

Relief may be just a phone call away. A number of businesses provide toll-free numbers that you can use to get off their mailing lists. Others require that you send them something. Don't forget to check your incoming mail for toll-free numbers.

Some businesses offer a toll-free service number to request removal from their mailing list: Call the corporate office of each store to obtain the number.

The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act makes it possible to call one toll-free phone number and get off credit bureaus for up to two years. If you want to get off their list for a longer period of time, perhaps forever, ask them for a form to fill out when you make the call.

• 1-888-5OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688)
• Experian (formerly TRW) at 1-800-407-1088

Most credit card companies that offer pre-approved credit cards use lists from these three credit bureaus. You might also see a reduction in the number of unsolicited insurance offers you receive.

Fill out a "Request to Withhold Name/Address from DMV Records Used for Direct Mail Advertising" at any Oregon DMV office.

Whenever you subscribe to a publication or contribute to a worthy cause, ask that your name not be sold, traded, loaned, or given away. Even after you have waged your own small mass mailing to rid yourself of unwanted mail, you will continue to receive some junk mail. You can recycle the remaining junk mail.

To do this you must actually open the mail and sort it according to local guidelines. Many organizations include decals, ID cards, stickers, and items with their mailings that are not recyclable.

For More Information

Contact Benton County Environmental Health at 541-766-6841 or Allied Waste Services of Corvallis at 541-754-0444.