Stop junk mail with a red dot

How often do you arrive home to find your mailbox stuffed with flyers – flyers that you usually toss straight into the recycling box? Recycling them seems like a good thing to do, until you consider how much energy goes into the production and distribution of all that brightly-coloured glossy mail, not to mention the energy required to recycle it. Thankfully, a Vancouver businesswoman has found an alternative.

All it takes is a letter and a red dot. Beth Ringdahl, president of EcoEco, launched the Red Dot campaign on her own dime this week to help people cut down on junk mail and urge advertisers to re-allocate their investments and current marketing strategies to transition into socially responsible and community-based initiatives.

Choose to reduce paper waste by saying NO to junk mail through Canada Post’s eco-friendly consumer choice option. They honour requests not to receive unaddressed advertising materials - a little-known policy that has been in place for more than ten years. It is so little known, in fact, that only 2% of Canadians have adopted it. In a 2007 press release, Canada Post stated that they “respect the wishes of consumers who indicate through a self-produced note on their mailbox or mail receptacle that they do not wish to receive unaddressed material.”

The corporation uses red dots to officially flag households that want to opt out of receiving junk mail. The objective of Ringdahl’s Red Dot campaign is to remind us that we can say NO to unwanted advertising and let our collective voice urge advertisers to be mindful of their use of paper in print advertising.

Opting out of junk mail from Canada Post is an easy two-step process, according to the Red Dot website. First, residents need to write a letter to Canada Post indicating they no longer wish to receive unaddressed mail at their home. A downloadable version of the letter is available on the Red Dot website, which your mail carrier will deliver to Canada Post. Canada Post will then place a red dot on your mailbox or mail slot, according to Ringdahl, to remind letter carriers that you have opted out. In the meantime, the website also has a printable NO JUNK MAIL sign available for download.

The red dot and sign for your mailbox are an indication that you are not prepared to keep accepting mail that you don’t read when those advertising dollars can be allocated to much more meaningful projects. And maybe your neighbours will notice it. According to Ringdahl, we are exposed to $19 billion worth of advertising each year. Much of print advertising is wasteful and irrelevant, with a huge environmental footprint.

Check out information on the www.forestethics.com and www.marketsinitiative.org to find out more about forest conservation and the impacts of paper production.

Sign up, spread the word and help make the Red Dot campaign a success!