Oakland Tribune -- How to reduce junk mail

Junk mail can clutter the mailboxes of the rich and poor, young and old. For most people, it's the last thing they want to see when they open their mailboxes. In addition, some junk mail, such as pre-approved credit card offers, can open the door to identity theft. But the deluge of junk mail can be controlled by contacting the marketers that send it out, experts say. Those efforts may not stop all the junk mail from reaching your mailbox but it will at least slow down the paper onslaught. And while the amount of junk mail is on the decline due to the slowing economy, it's still a hassle to deal with unwanted catalogs, grocery circulars and promotional mail. Each year, American households receive an estimated 100 billion pieces of junk mail, a process that results in the use of 100 million trees, according to ForestEthics, a San Francisco-based conservation group.

The average American household received 392 pieces of junk mail in 2007, said Emily Utter, coordinator of the Bay Area Recycling Outreach Coalition. "That's more than one piece a day," she said.

"I hate junk mail. It takes some work (to control it) but there are ways. There is no way to opt out of everything," said Lori Wilson, vice president of operations for the Oakland-based Golden Gate chapter of the Better Business Bureau.

"It's not that easy. We totally agree that it's a big pain in the butt. But even so, a lot of people are taking action. They  eel the benefit of it after a few months." said Utter. The coalition has a Stop Junk Mail Kit that can be downloaded by going to the www.stopjunkmail.org Web site.

Unlike the www.donotcall.gov national registry that allows consumers to stop telemarketing calls, there is no similar national registry to control junk mail. ForestEthics is attempting to change that. To sign an online petition supporting a national registry to stop junk mail, go to www. donotmail.org.

Given that consumers who want to stop mail junk mail currently don't have a single resource to contact, it does take some effort to control junk mail. Here are some tips on how to reclaim your mailbox from junk mail marketers.

One of the most effective ways to reduce junk mail is to contact the Direct Marketing Association, which has more than 3,600 members from the United States and 46 other nations. Members include both commercial and non-profit firms. To register online go to www.dmachoice.com.

"Our role is to give consumers more of the mail they want and less of the mail they don't want," said Pat Kachura, DMA's senior vice president for corporate and social responsibility. "It's beneficial for marketers, too, because sending (unwanted) mail is quite expensive."

Nationwide, almost 4 million households, including 770,000 in California, are registered with the association's mail preference service. It's estimated that those registrations prevent 930 million pieces of unwanted mail from being sent out to consumers on a yearly basis.

The sluggish economy along with rising postage and paper costs have also led to a decline in the volume of direct mail sent out by association members compared to the same time a year ago. Direct mail volume has decreased by 3.5 percent in the last year while catalog volume has dropped by 13 percent.

Through the association, consumers can have their names taken off individual mailing lists of member catalog retailers and organizations. Consumers can also choose to stop all current and future mail communications from member catalog retailers and organizations. The registration process is good for three years. After that it has to be renewed.

Consumers who have registered can also choose to resume mail communications at any time.

While there are several groups that a consumer needs to contact to stop junk mail, Utter said if she had to choose just one it would be the Direct Marketing Association since they are the biggest.

Every year, companies mail out millions of pre-approved offers for credit card and insurance products that end up in consumers mailboxes. The way to stop those offers is to register online at www.optoutprescreen.com. Such offers present an opportunity for identity thieves who break into mailboxes to obtain personal information to open financial accounts in somebody else's name.

"We get so many pre-approved offers for credit and insurance," said Wilson. "You want to opt out."

By opting out either online or by phone, consumers can have their names removed from the mailing lists provided by the country's three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.