Tired of those unwanted catalogs and credit card offers crowding your mailbox? (I know I am!) Though I must admit a certain fascination with looking at pictures of things I couldn't possibly afford, I worry about the impact that all of these discarded publications have on the environment. And don't even get me started on mailings from credit card companies. Pay your bills on time and what do you get? Two or three chances a day to change banks! Enough already.

According to the Center for a New American Dream, Americans spend eight months of their life opening junk mail. But that's nothing compared to the 90 million trees that are cut down each year to make the paper for these unsolicited mailings. Or the 340,000 garbage trucks that are needed to haul away the junk mail that is thrown out rather than recycled. Or the $320 million tax dollars it takes yearly to dispose of junk mail. I could go on…but you get the idea.

OK, so we know junk mail is bad, but how do we get rid of it? Here's the good news: there are several services that will remove your name and address from bulk mail lists. The bad news? They require 90 days notice in writing. But if you notify them now, you should see a substantial decrease in junk mail within a few months (well in advance of the next holiday onslaught!).

Just send a letter to the organizations listed below saying, "To whom it may concern: I request to have my name removed from your marketing lists. Here is the information you have asked me to include in my request." Then include your name, current mailing address, social security number, date of birth and signature. That's all there is to it.

Here are the addresses:

To stop catalogs and other company solicitations:
Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
P.O. Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008

To stop credit card offers:
Experian Consumer Opt Out
701 Experian Parkway
Allen, TX 75013

Equifax Options
P.O. Box 740123
Atlanta, GA 30374-0123

Trans Union LLC's Name Removal Option
P.O. Box 97328
Jackson, MS 39288-7328

Don't have time to write the letters? The Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington, DC, electronic privacy lobbying group, will generate them for you (you'll still have to mail them). Just go to www.newdream.org/junkmail/junkmail.html  and follow the instructions. In their privacy policy, CDT advises that they don't collect or use the information asked for to generate the opt-out forms. But if you prefer, leave the fields blank and you'll generate blank forms which can be filled out by hand.

Declaring your independence from junk mail is one simple step in the Center for a New American Dream's Turn the Tide program — nine simple actions you can take to have a measurable, positive impact on the environment. Turn the Tide features an instant online calculator that will show you the difference you've made for the earth. Turn the Tide also tallies the cumulative impact of all participants' reported actions to demonstrate the power of lots of people taking small actions together. Developed by consulting leaders and scientists in the field of conservation, these steps will help to make an important and positive impact for the earth.

Click here to register for Turn the Tide as a friend of Valley Viewpoint — http://www.newdream.org/turnthetide/register.asp?from=281746. Please pass this link on to family, friends, and neighbors so we can have an even greater positive impact on the earth.

Dr. Jane Goodall recently endorsed the Turn the Tide program. Click here to read her comments.

(Back to Simply Living)