Some things just seem inevitable.  The sun rises and sets; all rivers flow to the sea; junk mail comes in and we throw it out.  It's so routine and mundane that many people don't give it much thought.  In fact, research has shown that about 44% of junk mail is thrown in the garbage without being opened.  You'd think that the companies paying to advertise on bulk mailers, catalogs and fliers would be upset by the fact that people ignore their mail.  Well, they aren't.  Advertisers only anticipate about a 2% response from all that paper.  That means all of the companies paying to advertise on bulk mailers, catalogs and fliers fully expect that 98% of the recipients of their mail will throw it away.

Junk mail is a big environmental problem.  Every year, junk mail uses 100,000 trees and creates more pollution than over 9 million cars.  So every time you get that department store catalog or an envelope with $200 worth of savings inside, the world's forests get a little smaller, landfills get a little fuller and the atmosphere gets a little warmer.  And the only goal is to get about 2% of the recipients to buy things.

To illustrate how pervasive and severe the junk mail problem is, Dan Laget, Editor-in-Chief of TheCampusHerald.com - an online newspaper serving the Santa Monica College community in Santa Monica, CA - conducted a simple experiment.  He saved every piece of junk mail that he received for 3 months.  At the end of his experiment, the stack was already 9 inches high and weighed 22 pounds. 

Fortunately, junk mail is not the inevitable nuisance it appears to be.  People do have control over this eco-monster.  There are a few simple steps you can take and soon your mailbox will no longer groan under the weight of catalogs and coupons.

•    Contact department stores that send you catalogs and ask them to remove your name from their list.

•    Call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688).  There is an automated system to request removal from lists that are sold by the credit bureaus Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.  You can choose to remove your name from the mailing list for five years or permanently.  You'll begin to see a dramatic reduction in these mailings within a few months.  You can also request removal online by clicking here.

•    When making charitable contributions, read the fine print.  Unfortunately, some charities make extra money by selling the names of their contributors.  If you have any concerns, consider donating anonymously through sites like NetworkforGood.org, JustGive.org and TisBest.org.  

Also, there are a lot of organizations dedicated to stopping the wasteful and environmentally damaging junk mail cycle.  Greendimes.com, Privacycouncil.org, and 41pounds.org are just a few of the many groups that will help to get your name off of mailing lists.  These groups often charge a fee for their services, but the cost is minimal and your money helps support other great causes.  For example, 41pounds.org costs about $8 per year, but they donate more than 1/3 of each new subscriber's fee to an environmental or community organization of the donator's choice.  GreenDimes.com costs about $20 per year, but they use the funds to support reforestation, sustainable harvesting and rainforest conservation.  Another good organization is ForestEthics.org.  They've created DoNotMail.org, a petition for a national Do Not Mail Registry.  

Stopping junk mail at the source is vital since junk mail often cannot be recycled.  Many glossy fliers have ink with high contents of heavy metal, making them difficult to recycle.  You'll have to check with your city's waste management bureau or recycling company to see what grades of paper they accept.   If you are able to recycle it, great.  If not, shred it and use it as packing material for shipping or dispose of it with your garbage.

With a little effort and a little patience, you'll no longer feel beseiged by that inevitable tide of junk mail.  Instead, you can think of forests that are a little fuller, landfills that aren't overflowing and air that's cleaner and cooler for everyone.