41pounds.org - Reclaim your mailbox

Spam in your inbox is annoying but junk in your mailbox is polluting the environment. The team at 41pounds.org is dedicated to helping households cut down on the junk mail that is delivered daily. Complaining about sweepstakes and credit card letters is a thing of the past, now that we can complain about spam, but the fact is we are still receiving mountains of unwanted paper that have a toxic effect on the Earth. Companies who send out junk mail are wasting valuable resources such as trees and water and emit greenhouse gasses in production. Recycling is clearly a great solution, however, the ink in junk mail has high concentrations of heavy metals, which makes it a challenge to recycle. For a small price, 41pounds.org will eliminate 80-90% of junk mail received by contacting 20-30 companies that are responsible for the most common types of junk mail (i.e. credit card companies, sweepstakes, etc.). By cutting down the amount of junk mail you receive, you can save 1.7 trees, 700 gallons of water and stop 460 pounds of CO2 from being released into our atmosphere.

"To produce and process 4 million tons of junk mail a year, 100 million trees are destroyed, 28 billion gallons of water is wasted, and energy equivalent to 2.8 million cars is spent – which produces greenhouse gases and more global warming. In addition, $320 million of local taxes are spent to dispose of junk mail each year instead of providing parks, libraries, health care and other valuable services.

Even with recycling programs all over the country, the majority of household waste is junk mail, and paper takes up about 40% of landfill space!"

This is a great idea with a reasonable price tag. At a price of $40 for a five-year period (less than 70 cents per month) subscribers can make a big difference in their own small way. A great hidden fact about 41pounds.org is that 1/3 of the fee will go to an environmental or community organization chosen by the member.

Who are the biggest culprits of junk mail? Maybe the site could also include a letter writing campaign to either the companies or directly to the government.