Program Highlights
Dump the Junk Campaign
March 05, 2007
By taking a few simple steps you’ll be able to stop junk mail in its tracks. Not only will you be saved from filtering through heaps of unwanted offers and more trips to the recycling bins, your actions will help prevent the destruction of 31 million trees that go into supporting this wasteful industry. Taking a couple minutes to fill in a few boxes and to write an e-mail will put the brakes on the 450 pieces of junk that are destined for your mail box this year.
You can stop a lot of addressed junk mail by registering online for the "Do Not Mail/Do Not Call" program at http://www.the-cma.org/consumer/donotcontact.cfm . If you don’t have access to e-mail, you can also write to: Do Not Mail Service, c/o Canadian Marketing Association, 1 Concord Gate, Suite 607, Don Mills, ON. M3C 3N6. Let it be known that you want to be removed from their master mailing list. Include your address, postal code and all the forms of your name that have appeared on your mail.
While the above step should get rid of some of that pesky junk mail, if you are an Air Miles collector, it may be worth contacting Air Miles to remove your name from their distribution lists. Simply indicate that you do not wish to receive marketing or promotional communications in electronic, printed or verbal format, other than AIR MILES Account Updates. This can be done via mail by writing AIR MILES® Customer Service, P.O. Box 602, Station A, Scarborough, Ontario M1K 5K7 or sending them an e-mail at: privacyoffice@airmiles.ca. "I sent an e-mail request to be de-listed and a notification confirming my removal was in my inbox within 2 days", explains Ashley Lubyk, Calgary Materials Exchange Program Assistant.
For unaddressed junk mail, like flyers and catalogues, your best bet is to put a no junk mail sign on your mailbox. For people that have a community mailbox, Canada Post recommends placing a No Junk Mail sign on the inside of each receptacle. People living in apartments and condos should follow suit. Canada Post (the largest distributor of junk mail) and most local flyer distributors respect these signs and they have been very effective in reducing waste at its source. If you are still receiving flyers, attempt to find out if this is coming from your postal carrier or have a look at the bottom or back page of the flyer to see who is distributing them. You should be able to request to have them stopped if they are still sneaking them into your mail box.