FYI: Group Touts Success in Stopping ‘Junk Mail’

Editor’s note: The following press release is another example of the misinformation the printing industry must be prepared to counteract.

FERNDALE, MI—Oct. 31, 2011—41pounds.org celebrates five years of progress to stop junk mail from deluging our mailboxes, ravaging our forests and burdening local communities. Founded in 2006, 41pounds.org has stopped 5 million pounds of junk mail, saved 44,000 trees from destruction and raised more than $300,000 for environmental organizations.

“We started 41pounds.org because we were frustrated with the huge waste of trees and time involved in junk mail,” said Sander DeVries, Co-Founder of 41pounds.org. “Then we learned it also uses massive amounts of energy and water, and makes climate change worse. At the end of the chain, about half of junk mail goes to the landfill unopened—at taxpayer expense.”

Once Sander and his two brothers, Tim Pfannes and Shane Pfannes, figured out how to stop their own junk mail, they created a systematic way to stop junk mail for their friends and family. As experts in computer technologies, they refined the process and launched a public service: 41pounds.org. The name comes from the amount of junk mail the average American adult receives every year.

The 41pounds.org service gives people a way to say “NO” to unwanted catalogs, credit card offers and other junk mail in their mailbox. It keeps more trees in the forest protecting a healthy climate and wildlife habitat. It’s also good for business and charities—so they don’t waste money sending marketing mail to people who don’t want to hear from them.

• More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail.

• The world’s temperate forests absorb 2 billion tons of carbon annually to help keep the planet cool and healthy.

• Junk mail produces more greenhouse gas emissions than 9 million cars.

• The average adult spends 70 hours a year dealing with junk mail.

41pounds.org stops household junk mail by contacting dozens of direct mail companies to remove our customers from these marketing lists. Customers also specify which catalogs and charity solicitations they want to stop receiving. The service covers everyone in your household for five years and costs $41, including a $15 donation to the environmental organization of your choice.

Gorav Seth, head of partnerships at Trees for the Future, said, “41pounds.org provides a valuable service for their customers, keeps more trees in the forests and helps us plant millions of trees.”

To learn more about junk mail and efforts to create a national Do Not Mail registry, go to www.41pounds.org/junk-mail-landscape.

Source: 41pounds.org.