How To Eliminate Junk Mail

How Do I Stop Junk Mail?

Do you receive magazines, catalogs, flyers, and other bulk items in your mailbox? Perhaps you’re wondering why you’re receiving a magazine that you didn’t even subscribe to.
Consumer you are not alone, millions of Americans have the same problem.

How do I stop getting all this junk mail?

What you and I may consider a waste of paper or piles of endless junk, the companies that mail the catalogs consider “direct mail”. Why are you receiving catalogs that you have never made a purchase from and how did they get your information? Because you may or may not realize that a company that you did give your information to has shared it with a third party. Please note read a company’s privacy policies very carefully before making a purchase. Also, when placing an order ask the company to put you on their “do not promote list”, this will save you and the environment lots of unnecessary clutter.


If you truly care about the environment and you don’t want to see millions of trees go to waste, than you must take some action.

Having organized hundreds of clients in my career as a professional organizer, I found that the very best way to get rid of junk mail is to call the company’s directly. Yes, this is time consuming and not all together fool proof, but a combination of calling the company directly and sending email notification is the most effective means to stop the junk mail.

Here’s how to begin:

Step1: Remove billing information from the magazine or catalog, place the other portion in a recycle pile. *you will be recycling this portion later

Step2: Usually the company will provide a 1-800 number on the back of the magazine portion your tore off.

Step 3: Make a list, you could use an excel spreadsheet for this step. List all the companies by name, along with their customer service phone number and or e-mail address. At this point if you cannot locate either the phone number or e-mail find the company on the web, usually they will have a customer service email address listed on their site.

Step 4: I found that calling the company directly works best, so begin by calling each company directly. When speaking to the customer service representative ask politely to be removed from their mailing list. Also, it is important to ask the representative of their company’s privacy policies and ask them to please not sell or share any of your information. Have the catalogs tracking number handy, you ripped this page off the back remember.

If you are unable to reach a company by phone, an e-mail usually works just as well. Keep the tone of the e-mail very polite again and state that you would like to opt out of any future mailing’s from this company and to be put on a “do not promote list”. You should receive a written response from the company within one to two business days. File this e-mail for your records.

Be patient, it usually takes anywhere from one to two months to see a reduction in junk mail.

More information:

Tips:

1. Yes, there are companies that will remove your name from mailing lists for a small fee; however I found them to be not very effective, just as time consuming and in my opinion you really shouldn’t have to spend money to get rid of junk mail.

2. When sorting through your mail, keep a small bin or box labeled recycling. This will reduce the amount of clutter that piles up.

3. Recycle, if all else fails help the environment by recycling your junk mail.

4. Consult with a professional organizer, we have seen it all before and can give you valuable advice as to what to do.

5. Do not mark your junk mail ‘return to sender’; this will not discourage the company from sending you more mail.