How to Stop Junk Mail
I love mail. I write letters and postcards to my friends and family just for fun. But what’s not fun is when I open my mailbox and discover a nuisance instead of a loving correspondence. I could just toss it in the recycling bin, but I prefer to remove myself from mailing lists so the mail isn’t created and sent to me in the first place. I like to think I’m doing a little bit to save trees and reduce my carbon footprint too, but my real motivator is I find unsolicited mail stressful!
So, here are my tips for reducing your unwanted mail and getting off the mailing lists you don’t want to be on:
The FTC’s Recommendations
The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) feels your pain and has provided some junk mail reducing resources on their website. They recommend DMAchoice.org and OptOutPrescreen.com to help you reduce junk mail and pre-approved credit card offers. They also have resources for stopping mail addressed to deceased household members.
DMAchoice is run by the Association of National Advertisers. In exchange for a processing fee of $4, they will add you to a “do not mail” list that will reduce the amount of unsolicited advertising mail you receive. This will not remove you from all mailing lists, and it is only in effect for 10 years. They do not stop company-specific mailers (like catalogs from places you’ve done business with) and they don’t stop political mailers. That being said, I still recommend you sign up. It will reduce the unsolicited and seemingly “random” mailers you get significantly.
OptOutPrescreen is the official site of the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry and they handle opt-in and opt-out requests for pre-approved offers of credit or insurance. If you opt-out online, it lasts for 5 years. You can permanently opt-out if you do so through the mail.
Refusing Mail - USPS
You do not have to accept every piece of mail that is delivered to you. You can read the USPS’s rules on mail refusal here. As long as mail is unopened, you have the right to refuse it within a reasonable time. Simply write “RTS - Refused” or “Return to Sender - Refused” on the envelope and return it to a mailbox. The mail will be returned to the sender unless it is insured, registered, certified, or a COD order.
This is not necessarily a solution to getting removed from mailing lists. There is no requirement that a sender do anything at all about mail that is returned to them, but it might help get your name off a small business’ list if you have no other way to contact them. It’s unlikely this will work for a larger organization.
Refusing mail is also a good way to let an organization know that an addressee no longer lives at your address. If you’re constantly getting mail for a previous resident, just write “RTS - No Such Addressee” and this will notify the sender that they have the wrong address. This will only give you limited results, however, for getting off mailing lists.
Paper Karma
Paper Karma is an subscription-based service that will remove you from mailing lists after you send them a photo of the mailer or catalog you want to stop receiving. It costs $3.99/month or $24.99/year. If you want to get removed from mailing lists with minimal effort using your phone, this is the option for you.
Catalog Choice
Catalog Choice is a donation-based service from the nonprofit The Story of Stuff Project. You create an account, search for the catalogs and other mailers you’re receiving, and follow their steps to opt-out. Sometimes they link you to another website to complete your opt-out request and sometimes they handle it for you. It depends on what relationship they have with the company. They have a large database that’s largely user-driven, and I’ve been using them for many, many years. They also help you keep track of what you have opted out of, and if the company mails you again, they will help you file a complaint with the FTC (which I’ve done before and it’s a lot of fun).
Coupon Mailers
I hate these. The days they are delivered you can see them blowing in the wind down the street because they fall out of mailboxes so easily. If you don’t need the coupons inside, it’s a good idea to unsubscribe from them. You can either read the fine print for opt-out information, or you can use these links to opt-out of common ones. I’ve opted out of them and it works great, but you might still get your neighbor’s delivered to you by mistake. I’ve certainly never unsubscribed my neighbor from these. That’s probably illegal.
Save Coupon Mailers (this is called Red Plum in some markets)
A few other tips
Here are a few other tips -
If you call or email to remove yourself from a mailing list, say “Please mark my account as Do Not Sell, Trade, or Rent my personal information.” If you don’t say this, they may stop mailing you, but they won’t stop selling your name and address to other businesses.
It’s very difficult to remove yourself from real estate fliers. I’ve been told that each agent compiles their own mailing list from local property records, so there isn’t a database to remove yourself from. You can remove yourself agent by agent, but there are new agents all the time and the effectiveness of this arduous process might be negligible.
Political mail is very aggravating to me. If you’ve ever made a political campaign donation, you’re on the list. You have to contact the campaigns individually to be removed. Whenever you make a donation, tell the campaign to mark your account as opted-out of mailers and do not sell/trade/rent my personal information.
Nonprofit and donation-based organizations rely on mailers to generate donations. If you make a purchase from or donate to a nonprofit, you’re likely going to be added to a mailing list so they can ask you for future donations. When you donate, ask them to opt you out of donation mailers (and tell them not to sell/trade/rent your information to others). If you want to make periodic donations to an organization, you can set a calendar reminder for yourself or ask to be added to their email list.
I hope this info helps you declutter your mailboxes! Now go start opting out! Be calm, be organized, be you!
