I received a monthly newsletter in today’s mail from my bank. It’s sort of a fun little 6 page flyer filled with local events, seasonal recipes, happenings with the bank, advertisements and so forth. I typically toss it every month without even glancing at it.

Why? Why do we throw mail away (i.e. in a landfill) every month? Why does my bank waste the money on printing these newsletters when an email is free? Why do Americans accept this?

According to a recent study, junk mail in America has the same carbon footprint in a year as nine million cars. Astounding.

I called my bank this morning to cancel my subscription to this unsolicited advertisement. The nice woman on the phone paused for a moment to think. “I’ve never had that request before. I’m not sure how to direct you.”

E-mail is fast, free, and saves trees. For all intents and purposes, the United States Postal Service is an outdated, antiquated system. Unsubscribe from mail you don’t want. Think “do not mail” when it makes sense, which is most of the time.