 Last
Updated: 10/13/04
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 The average American household gets more
than 500  pieces of advertising mail each year. While
shopping by mail can be a savings in time, travel and
money, much of what we receive is never even looked at.
This type of mail is unwanted, or "junk" mail.
Recycling junk mail is a good start, but reducing the
amount of junk mail you receive is an even better idea.
SO, DON'T LET YOUR NAME BECOME A COMMODITY.
Every time you enter a contest,
make a donation or a purchase, order a product by mail,
subscribe to a magazine or send in a warranty card, your
name and address may be placed on a mailing list. The
list may be rented, sold or traded.
- Tip No. 1 - To limit
your mail to those items you look forward to
receiving, write "DO NOT RENT OF SELL MY
NAME" or "NO MAILING LISTS" next
to your name when you correspond back.
- Tip No. 2 - Contact
companies directly, in order to stop receiving
mail from specific sources. Call the customer
service number of the organization or business in
question. Many companies have free 800 numbers.
Request that your name be removed from their
mailing list. If there is no convenient phone
number, send in a written request that is signed
and dated.
- Tip No 3 - To remove
your name from many national mailing lists, write
to the Direct Marketing Association's Mail
Preference Service. This free service is good for
up to five years. It works only for national
mail, not local mail, and only for residential
addresses, not businesses. Send your name and
address (in every variation shown on the junk
mail you receive) to:
Mail Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
PO Box 9008
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008
DON’T FORGET TO USE YOUR
SIGNATURE TO FULLY AUTHORIZE YOUR REQUEST.
Just as your name may be a
commodity for mailing lists, it can also be sold or
traded for phone call solicitations.  If you
are tired of getting calls almost every day asking you
for donations, your time to take a survey or your
interest in a product or service you can take action to
cut down on these types of interuptions.
- Tip No. 1- Tell the
solicitation caller that you prefer that they NOT
call you again. In most areas, by law, companies
can not call you back for a certain period of
time (such as one year).
- Tip No. 2 - To remove
your name from many national lists, write to the
Direct Marketing Association's Telephone
Preference Service. This is a free service. It
works only for national, not local lists. Send
your name and address to:
Telephone Preference Service
Direct Marketing Association
PO Box 9014
Farmingdale, NY 11735-9014
DON’T FORGET TO USE YOUR
SIGNATURE TO FULLY AUTHORIZE YOUR REQUEST
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