COMMENTS
Are you really doing this in association with the Arbor Day Foundation? The same Arbor Day Foundation that mails millions of piece of "junk" mail a year?
I've worked directly and in-directly with the Arbor Day Foundation for over 20 years. In that time they have probable sent more than 200 million pieces of mail--and most likely closer to double that when you include all the other paper correspondence they send out.
I'm all for preserving the environment and the responsible use of resources.
And I'm also for targeting messages so they are being best sent to interested parties...
Two thumbs down for "piling on" journalism.
Great idea ... the junk mail is something that we all need to make an effort to control.
The catalogchoice.org has helped save a lot of trees.
Thank you for the well researched artical! Diane
@Doug - Yup the same one. I don't expect the entire world to stop all junk mail overnight - including the Arbor Day Foundation, or HubSpot or anyone else. But I do think that this week is a great time to put into perspective the vast amount of resources we marketers consume -- all in a quest for a 2-4% average response rate (which when you really think about it sort of means that 96% of junk mail is wasted).
Fantastic. The statistics so given is a great eye opener on environmental problems.Wish this grand mission to succeed.
Great article Mike! It will be interesting to see how many people link to this article. I am going to add a link on my blog and hope a lot of other people do the same so the Arbor Day Foundation can help us plant a bunch of trees!
Very interesting statistics.. scarey the amount of waste we produce.. I am almost paperless these days only buying a few reams of paper a year. Long live the Internet and digital storage!
Aren't most of the trees used to create paper grown specifically to make paper? That is, isn't it a renewable resource? I don't think most (if any) of the lumber and paper mills make use of un-ethical practices such as butchering old growth forests to produce copy paper.
If you join
www.greendimes.com now they will either send you $1, plant a tree or send you a trial subscription to Plenty (a green magazine). Plus, you get to put an end to your junkmail! They offer free services as well as paid for.
I think this is a great idea. Our company is actually hosting some fun earth day events tomorrow. We're offering free e-waste recycling and also pre-printing letters for various email marketing companies so employees can opt-out of junk mail. ProQuo.com is a great website where you can manage your junk mail and this gave me the idea to have the company mail the letters for everyone tomorrow.
Tell all those companies sending you junk catalogs to stop! This site is awesome and has already assisted in getting almost all my catalog deliveries halted.
http://www.catalogchoice.org/
In support of Dan Elliott's query, yes most junk mail probably is printed on paper made from sustainable sources. Certainly in the UK it's difficult to find a printer who doesn't use paper from sustainable sources these days. This doesn't detract from the larger message though. One thing I would recommend is if you are sending out marketing mail, make sure it is 100% paper (no plastic address windows etc.) as this makes it a lot easier for the recipient to have it recycled once they are done with it. Same goes for any mail - invoices etc.
Great post. Don't forget phone books. Those are insanely wasteful. I had to call three different companies and wait on hold to cancel them.
Astounding stats! I am definately going to look for ways to print less and go electronic. I want to preserve that tree you plant for me! Thanks for the eye-opening info!
I took the average time that it would take to work out all of those averages and came up with a completely imaginary number, which I shall, henceforth, claim is a real statistic.
26.3 minutes.
Please link to my statistic, which is a lame attempt at link bait.
Averages don't mean a thing - especially when they are based on a total guestimate of what the average size of a direct mail piece is, based on a regular envelope.
The 'average American' has one breast and one testicle.
Hi,Your post seems to be a good the junk mail must be controlled
Very interesting article! Certainly, printing less and going "green" & electronic is better off.
The junk mail was so overwhelming at my house I had to do something. I signed up with <a href=http://www.myjunktree.com>Myjunktree and stopped almost all of the junk mail that came to my home. I sopped all teh catalogs I no longer wanted to receive, the Credit card offers, weekly coupons, misc junk mail and evn those lousy phone books. It was super easy and I was done in 15 minutes. You should take a look at these guys.
In response to Doug that we do this for a 2-4% response rate and then 96% is junk however you left off off many factors such as what the 2-4% response rate represents in terms of revenue and profits - if I spend $1000 and get a return of $10000, (of which we do) and the lifetime customer value of those 2-4% is actually about $20K-30K, wouldn't that be a great investment? Yes, outbound is dying a slow death however there are many cases and markets where it is a piece of an overall plan as you well know. There are many ways to save trees such as stop all political direct mailings - have you seen the garbage they send out asking for money - I usually send it back and ask for my tax money back. Also, if you dont want it -pile it up and take it to the post office or mail it back to the sender.
Uh Rodney, perhaps you might read your "threads" more carefully in the future.
You're responding to a response TO ME. Not FROM ME...oh well...it happens.
Nothing but love Rodney. Nothing but Love!
:-)
my apologies - read to quickly - seeing you are in the Direct Mail business you see my side, I guess. question - do you deal in Prenatal lists from sources other than Experian by chance?
To stop junk mail I been using
www.MyJunkTree.com to stop junk mail, it provides me with a central location in which I can stop the junk mail and solicitations from more than 1300 catalogs and more than 5000 charity/nonprofit organizations, credit card companies, banks and data brokers, and stoping the delivery of national phone books. This green site also will plant trees with each new membership.
Thanks for the post.
You can also sign do not mail petition ( like Do Not Call National Petition)
I did some search online and this is the best resource so far available online ( correct me if I am wrong). I have done this 5 months ago and my mailbox is literally empty ( I have paperless billing and also opted out from various mail lists) I check my mail twice a month now. It is beautiful. ( What a freedom).
I even took the letter from samples provided and wrote it to a local Chinese restaurant that keeps putting fliers in my door. They stopped too in the whole subdivision.
Save the time for yourself.
http://awakening.weebly.com/stop-junk-mail.html
I even opted out from the yellow book. What do I need it for, since the internet is right here.
Would be nice if there was a way to target only those that are interested. I for one don't mind a piece of advertising when it is something I am interested in and that offers a legitimate way to save money. For example, when I moved I went looking for ads/coupons in the mail to help me set up the house with things I needed. There's something to say for opt in lists out there that enable marketers to make sincere offers to folks that want it/need it.
You can opt in like at this website: for instance, you can opt in or opt out of bath and beyond coupons.