Rid Yourself of Junk Mail - Save the Earth

It's a twofer
So I had a great article I found in one of my MSU today magazines they seem to waste so much tuition on making but a lass my scanner is broken. I’ll try to give you the gist of it.

::Let me put on my tree hugger hippy outfit::

Junk mail is a huge problem in America and it’s taking its toll on our natural resources. Make sure and read all the stats below. There is a wonderful team of people from MSU who for 41 dollars will stop 95% of your junk mail (per household) for 5 years! Sound great right? Well it is, there isn’t a but here. Go to their website and see for yourself 41pounds.com Half of what they receive goes to charity.
Check it out and spread the word.

:: Steps out of tree hugger outfit::

Junk Mail as it Affects You
•Each person will receive almost 560 pieces of junk mail this year.

•The average person gets only 1.5 personal letters each week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail.

• More than 4 million tons (62,000,000,000 (billion) pieces) of junk mail are produced yearly.

• California’s state and local governments spend $500,000 each year collecting and disposing of AOL’s direct mail disks alone.

• Individually, an average of 41 pounds of junk mail are sent to every adult each year. Approximately 44% goes to a landfill unopened.

• Lists of names and addresses used in bulk mailings are in mass data-collection networks, compiled from phone books, warranty cards, and charity donations (to name a few).

• Your name is typically worth 3 to 20 cents each time it is sold.

• $320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of unsolicited mail each year.

• It costs $550 million yearly to transport junk mail.



Junk Mail as it Affects the Environmental
• The production and disposal of junk mail consumes more energy than 2.8 million cars.

• 100 million trees are ground up each year for unsolicited mail.

• 42% of timber harvested nationwide ends up as pulpwood for paper.

• It wastes 28 billion gallons of water for paper processing each year.

• If you cut your bulk mail for 5 years, you’ll conserve 1.7 trees, 700 gallons of water and prevent 460 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the air.

• 40% of the solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste. By the year 2010, it is predicted to make up about 48%.

• Scarce landfill space disfigures rural areas and pollutes ground water.

• It is difficult to recycle, as the inks have high concentrations of heavy metals.20 cents each time it is sold.
(Taken from 41pounds.com).