Cambridge And Brookline Team Up To Combat Junk Mail
CAMBRIDGE (CBS) - Is your mailbox jam-packed with useless material? Some Massachusetts towns are pushing residents to opt-out of all that junk mail.
"It costs the city to recycle, ultimately it's costing the taxpayers money to handle junk mail and unwanted phone books," says Cambridge Recycling Director Randi Mail. "Being able to cut down on the mail we're getting is a much better thing than recycling. That's the last resort. we should be doing that, but we should be reducing the waste in the first place."
WBZ-TV's Christina Hager reports
So Cambridge and Brookline have set up websites for residents who want to get on a "do not mail" list. People in other cities and towns can also cut their junk mail by logging onto catalogchoice.org. People can click on specific companies they want to block from mailing, and even stop phone book deliveries.
Residents we spoke with as they lugged their recycling bins to the curb seemed interested. "I wish it would stop," says Travis Fountain. Cara Ciderman already signed herself up. "It's not against the companies or shopping or anything like that. It's just that when you have things available online, it's just much more environmentally friendly."
Experts estimate Americans receive more than 100 billion pieces of unwanted mail every year.
