Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Simplify! Get Rid of Junk Mail

Simplification is a current life theme for me -- as Thoreau said, "Simplify, simplify, simplify." My recent move to the Midwest, in great part, was about simplification. We put a lot of thought into choosing our community. We wanted a place where our primary transportation could be self-powered (bicycle, walk). It sounds counterintuitive, but getting rid of the car for much of my life has made life soooo much easier! I no longer worry about gas prices or traffic jams. When I run errands, it is a joy rather than a hassle. I get to walk through the pretty parts of town and enjoy the scenery!

We also don't own a television. We made this choice about 2 years ago, and I don't regret it at all! I find that I have a lot more time for reading and conversation.

I did something today that was empowering. I took steps to rid myself of junk mail! I got off the pre-approved credit card list and I signed up for the Direct Marketing Association's mail preference list. This list is something many companies check before sending advertising mail. If a name is on the list, they don't send the junk mail. My primary driver for these actions is to save some trees. A nice secondary benefit will be saved time - I'll spend less time weeding through junk mail and more time drinking tea and reading poetry!

For information about the services mentioned, visit these websites:
www.optoutprescreen.com (To get off the preapproved credit cards)
http://www.dmaconsumers.org/consumerassistance.html (To get less junk mail)

3 comments:

Allison said...

Good tips! I did the direct mail stop about 8 months ago and I've seen a reduction in my junk mail. I wasn't aware that I could opt out of credit card offers too- I'm doing that right now! :)

Anonymous said...

Ah ha, so this is where Allison discovered this. I linked to it on my blog as well. Funny.

Anonymous said...

I'm so into simplifying these days. Less junk, less of any complication.