Publications

Each department can order preprinted postcards from the UO Printing Department. Each postcard has a return address for the UO and a note to ask to be taking off of mailing lists. When someone gets unsolicited mail, they paste the mailing label to the section designated on the card, address the front and send it through the University to the company. In Facilities, for example, there is a box for this unwanted mail and one person goes through and sends out the postcards. Though there are no figures on this, there is a notable reduction in unwanted mail in Facilities due to this effort.

At the University US and on-campus housing post offices, there are bulletin boards with free cards to stop the junk mail. There are; DMV cards (these are ordered from the State as the DMV sells mailing lists!), cards we made up for the Mail Preference service and additional statistics and info on this issue. There have been thousands of these cards given out since the program was started. This is located right above the post office bulk mail recycling bins. -If you really want to get wild, when you get unsolicited mail with a return envelope enclosed, stuff all of the contents back into the envelope and write a note to let them know to stop sending this to you. The message will get across, after all, the company pays to get that sent back.

GreenDimes also offers its “ Gift Me ” gift certificates in denominations of $36, $20, $15 or $5

GreenDimes is also the first and only company taking the unprecedented action of starting a Congressional Junk Mail Petition to present to congress in order to make it the Federal Government's job to stop junk mail. Please let me know your thoughts.

I would be happy to provide you with additional information or a free Junk Mail Reduction Kit to check the service out.

The Junk-in-the-Box Index
Number of mailing addresses in the U.S: 118 Million
Number of mail pieces handled by the postal service in 1992: 166 Billion
Percent of bulk mail among all mail: 18%
Number of bulk mail pieces sent by businesses: 50 Billion
Number sent by nonprofit organizations: 12 Billion
Number of catalogs: 12 Billion
Revenue of bulk mail industry in 1991: $210 Billion
Donations to charities and causes solicited by bulk mail: $50 billion
Number of Americans who shop by mail or by phone: 102 Million
Percent of adult population: 55%
Number of personal letters the average home gets each week: 1.5
Number of catalogs: 1.76
Percent of bulk mail people read fully: 15%
Percent they read partly or scan: 74%
Percent they throw away unopened: 11%
Total weight of bulk mail in 1990: 7,600,000,000 pounds
Weight of bulk mail recycled: 200,000 tons
Percent of bulk mail recycled in 1990: 5.2%
Number if different mailing lists: Over 50,000
Number of different catalogs: over 10,000
Number of jobs affected by the bulk mail industry: 3.5 Million
Number of people employed by the postal service: 700,000
Percent of Americans who receive no bulk mail: 0.8%

Sources: U.S. Postal Service, Postal Rate Commission,
Direct Marketing Association, and
Advertising Mail Marketing Association.

Direct mail, commonly called "junk" mail, is a powerful marketing tool if you want to alert interested consumers to the wonders of your company's latest widget, gadget or doohickey. Problem is, direct marketing is not an exact science. It is estimated that there are more than 15,000 consumer lists containing two billion names. Although many find direct marketing convenient, not everybody on these lists wants to be contacted by a dozen direct marketers. So how do "they" get your name? You might be surprised.
The goal of direct marketers is to reach those of us who are most likely to be interested in the offers they make. In its publication "The Small Business Guide to Advertising With Direct Mail," the Post Office states "Direct mail lists are compiled in hundreds of ways from numerous sources, ranging from voter registrations to attendees of trade shows, from the neighbors of your existing customers to people buying similar products/services." Lists of names are compiled from sources as basic as the phone book or as specific as a subscriber list to a women's fitness magazine.
Advocates of direct mail claim that it saves resources by decreasing the use of cars. Customers can stay home and order products at their convenience -- even if it's 3:00 a.m. However, many consumers are concerned with the volume of mail that comes to their box only to find its way directly to the recycling bin or (Heaven forbid!) the garbage can. Dealing with this unwanted mail represents a waste of time and natural resources.
Since both consumers and direct marketers benefit when direct mail goes only to those who want it, it makes sense to take a few simple steps to make sure you don't get unwelcome marketing pitches:
1. If you receive more magazines, catalogs and donation solicitations than you care to look at, contact the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Mail Preference Service, PO Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008. The mail preference service will place your name in a "do not mail" file for five years. Be aware, however, that not all companies subscribe to this service, so you might have to contact some of them directly to get off their list.
2. Credit bureaus are the companies that collect information about personal income and spending habits. Companies with which you do business provide data to credit bureaus on how much you owe and how promptly you pay your bills. Credit bureaus provide the information that may land you on a "pre-approved" credit card solicitation. The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act makes it possible to remove your name from the mailing lists generated by credit bureaus for two years. Simply call (888) 567-8688 and you will be removed from the mailing lists of Equifax, Enovus, Experian and Trans Union.
So if you have taken these two steps and you're still receiving unwanted mail, consider how these companies may be getting your name.
* If you subscribe to a magazine, donate to a charity or make purchases from a mail order catalog, your name and address become part of their customer lists which they "rent" to direct marketers. You may want to make it clear when you donate or purchase that you do not want them to sell, rent or give away your name and address.
* If you are listed in your local phone book, your name, address and telephone number are available to anyone who has access to the phone book. You might want to consider an unlisted number or request that the phone company remove your address from the white pages. Call QWest at (800) 244-1111 to make changes to your account.
* Government agencies keep records of births, marriages, divorces and purchases of homes or property that usually cannot be kept confidential. The only way to get off lists generated from public records is to contact the company directly and ask to be taken off the list. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) offers a form to remove your name from its mailing list or simply mark the appropriate box when you are renewing your license.
* The next time you enter to win that shiny new SUV or Hawaiian vacation, remind yourself that while your chances of winning are slim, you're very likely to end up on a mailing list used by other promoters of contests and sweepstakes. Avoid entering these contests unless you have the opportunity to "opt out" on the entry form.
Consumers have many options to help curb the junk mail problem. Recently, efforts have been made to help reduce the amount of junk mail received by businesses. Visit the new web site at:
http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/nwpc/bizjunkmail.htm
If you are on line, visit these web sites to learn more about reducing junk mail: http://www.junkbusters.com
http://www.ecofuture.org/jnkmail.html
For a convenient (and newly updated) brochure on reducing junk mail, contact
Pete Chism at Lane County, 682-4339, or
Alex Cuyler at the City of Eugene, 682-6830.

Environmentally friendly resource helps businesses reduce unwanted mail

The EcoLogical Mail Coalition offers a free solution to businesses that are burdened by stacks of undeliverable catalogs, brochures and magazines that are mailed to employees for years after they've been terminated.

What Is the Problem?

Businesses are burdened by stacks of undeliverable catalogs, brochures and magazines that are mailed to employees for years after they've been terminated.

It's a simple problem that occurs naturally with business mail, and affects every company of any size:

Employees receive a tremendous volume of catalogs, brochures, magazines and other "bulk" mail sent by marketers. (In a survey of Fortune 500 companies, most estimated this volume to be one-third of their total incoming mail volume.)
Unfortunately, much of this mail is addressed to individuals who no longer work for the company. (In the same survey, companies reported that as much as half of this mail is undeliverable because it's addressed to former employees, which means the business incurs cost and hassles receiving, sorting and disposing of this useless mail.)
The problem isn't fixable by businesses or marketers alone: Businesses have lacked a simple way to inform marketers which employees have left the company, and marketers have lacked an efficient method for obtaining this information. The end result is that marketers continue to send mail to the contacts they have on their mailing lists, often for years after employees leave.

How Big of a Problem Is It?

It's costing businesses far more than they realize -- both in time and dollars -- plus it's exacting a heavy penalty on the environment. The EcoLogical Mail Coalition estimates that receiving, sorting and disposing of undeliverable bulk mail costs businesses an average of $18.28 per former employee who continues receiving bulk mail.

What's the Real Impact?

With marketers mailing to former employees for years, and annual turnover rates exceeding 30 percent, the problem compounds and the impact becomes significant. It's time-consuming for already overburdened mail operations, adding as many as 200 additional pieces to their incoming mail stream per former employee.

It costs the environment, as well:

Each former employee who continues receiving mail generates 100 pounds of solid waste, which ends up in local landfills. One tree is consumed to create the undeliverable mail pieces that continue to be mailed to each former employee.

Following are actual estimates the EcoLogical Mail Coalition computed for a Fortune 500 company with 20,000 current employees:

Number of Former Employees Still Receiving Mail -- 17,500
Additional Pieces of Undeliverable Mail Received -- 945,000
Man-hours Wasted Sorting and Disposing of Undeliverable Mail -- 5,400
Annual Cost to Company -- $91,378
Tons of Waste Created -- 177
Number of Trees Consumed -- 4,253
*Source: EcoLogical Mail Coalition

Why Has It Not Been Easy to Fix?

Marketers lack critical information -- which individuals have left a company -- yet this information isn't available from any public source.

Direct marketers would prefer not to mail to outdated contacts, but they don't know which names on their mailings lists are outdated:

The United States Postal Service (USPS) doesn't track this information; the USPS's responsibility ends at the point mail is successfully delivered to a valid business address. Therefore existing USPS tools such as National Change of Address, which works for consumer mail, fail to track individual contact moves between companies.

The only party who knows all of the employees who have left a company is the employer itself. However:

Employers don't publicly report this information, so there's not an easy way for marketers to get access to the data. With average annual turnover rates greater than 30 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the problem compounds over years as more employees leave and marketers continue mailing.

How Did Creating a Coalition Solve the Problem?

The Coalition serves as a clearinghouse, making it easy and efficient for marketers to identify whom to remove from their mailing lists when employees are terminated.

In the past, enterprising businesses and marketers have attempted to contact each other to update contacts on mailers' lists. But with thousands of marketers targeting hundreds of thousands of businesses, doing so has proved impractical, costly and time-consuming.

That's why the EcoLogical Mail Coalition was formed:

An innovative approach was needed in order to create a truly efficient and effective solution, one that involves both marketers and the businesses receiving mail.
The Coalition acts as an independent "clearinghouse", maintaining a national, industry-wide database of outdated contact information (i.e., former employees).
Businesses go online to submit former employee information to the Coalition's database of outdated contacts. Marketers then compare their mailing lists to the Coalition's database, and flag matching records for removal.

The result is a simple solution that truly reduces waste and increases efficiency for everyone:

Businesses benefit because they report former employees once, yet eliminate mail from being sent by hundreds of marketers. Marketers benefit from a single, electronic match process through which they can identify thousands of former employees from thousands of companies; not only do they save money by not sending undeliverable mail, they eliminate the costly processing of manual updates they've traditionally received from individual businesses. The environment benefits because solid waste is eliminated and trees are not consumed since it prevents undeliverable direct mail pieces from being created initially (unlike recycling programs, which simply reuse waste).

What Are the Results to Date?

The Coalition's database already contains more than 850,000 former employees from more than 20,000 companies.
Fifty-one of the Fortune 500, and 28 universities and colleges have joined. The Coalition's database has been compared against more than 160-million names from direct marketer's mailing lists. More than one-million matching names have been identified for removal. Participating businesses and marketers have reaped a potential, cumulative cost savings of $769,598.

To learn more and to sign up, visit http://www.ecologicalmail.org