Fighting the Junk Mail Monster - Part 1 of 2

Part 1 of 2 on stopping the flow of junk mail to your residence.  Part 1 addresses reactive measures to stop the junk mail you currently receive and Part 2 will cover proactive measures to prevent future junk mail deliveries.
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Tell me if the following sounds familiar.  Arrive home in the evening, check the mailbox and walk inside.  Flip through the pieces of mail with a faint hope of receiving a letter from a friend or relative but typically have that hope dashed by a steady stream of credit card and cable offers crashing upon the breakwater of your soul like the endless waves of the ocean.

If this scenario describes the current state of your mailing affairs this post may be for you.

Commentary:

Junk mail has been around for many years and is often just another slight annoyance during the day.  The amount of junk mail Americans receive each year is pretty large.  According to the EPA and cited by a mail advertisement industry group, The Direct Marketing Association, 2.4% of all municipal solid waste is from direct mail / junk mail.  This association implies that 2.4% of solid waste is a small percentage but it seems large to me given the usefulness that I find these sort of mailings to have.

The previously noted The Zero Waste Home addressed this issue and how they had gone about stopping the seemingly endless flow of junk mail they received.  Their basic approach was to take any junk mail received and call the sender immediately to request removal from all of their mailing lists.  This is the approach we have followed and although we still receive the occasional advertisement nearly all of the mail we receive now is worth getting excited about - letters from grandma, Valentine's Day cards, photos for the refrigerator.  Checking the mail has been re-transformed from a daily disappointment to a source of anticipation and one of life's small daily pleasures.

Suggested action steps:

1) Pick up your daily mail and place any junk mail on the kitchen table or somewhere else you can't ignore it.
2) Call the company that sent each piece of junk mail the following day (since business hours are likely done for the current day).

3) Keep a list of the numbers, companies, and date contacted so you can refer to it if the mailings do not stop.  Here's an example of the list we created to do this which has been handy for the few companies that repeatedly ignored our requests.  We made it on Google Docs so we could have it handy and both access it easily.

Maybe with less junk mail we can avoid a world that only has fake plastic trees.




Question for attorneys or those with class action suit knowledge: 

Is there any basis for a class action suit against companies that repeatedly ignore requests to stop mailing materials to a residence?  I thought that perhaps from a privacy standpoint (exposing personal information including name, address, and potentially additional information depending on the contents of the mailing) or a harrassment standpoint (ignoring the explicit and repeated requests of a person to stop solicitations) might be grounds for a suit.  Given the quantity of junk mail and people affected by it I thought there might be potential here but am not familiar with the relevant laws.

LED Killed the Plasma Screen Star - 2/15/2012

For 2012 I'm writing this blog to document things our family has done to be more Earth-friendly. I started the year late and was trying to play catch-up to get current by the end of February but Amelia (my wife) mentioned that it was kind of dumb and confusing to have two different dates on each post.  So, starting today I'm posting with the same date and will fill in the skipped days over the rest of the year to ensure I have 365 in total for 2012.

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We moved to San Diego from Chicago in the fall of 2009 (props to Lucas Thayer and Kevin Koehler for help with the long-haul move).  Due to the distance, and our meager worldly possessions at the time, we made a number of purchases upon our arrival in America's Finest City including a new TV.  At the time, and to this date, I don't know much about televisions but have learned that the different types of televisions use very different amounts of power.  I learned that in regard to electricity usage with my choice of a plasma TV (42") I had chosen . . . poorly.

Commentary:

As you're probably aware, assuming you reside in the U.S. flat screen TVs have become very popular over the last few years.  There are primarily 3 types of televisions screens for these devices: Plasma, LCD, and LED.

As noted in this 2010 article from CNET, plasma TVs use the most power of this group of three, followed by traditional LCD and then LED (technically a subset of LCD but different enough that I'll treat as a separate category).  For a full description of how the different types of TV work check the the ever helpful Lifehacker.

The total bill for a 300 watt plasma TV with an average of 5 hours of use a day and a price of 15 cents per kilowatt hour would total about $82 a year.  (300 watts x 5 hours use x 366 days in a leap year / 1000 to convert to kwh x .15 dollars per kwh)  This is not a huge amount, but if you have more than 1 TV in your home or use your TV more than 5 hours a day it can quickly increase.  LCD and LED TVs use approximately 1/3 to 2/3 less energy than a plasma TV according to both the above CNET article and this International Business Times article.  The latter article also notes that in Australia TVs are now the 4th largest user of electricity in a home.

Given the above I wish I would have purchased an LCD or LED TV instead of a plasma TV and wanted to share this information in case anyone else is considering a purchase of a new TV.  I'm in the market for a 2nd computer monitor since I'm now working at home and I definitely plan to purchase an LED.  Additionally, because they use less power, LEDs are cooler which can matter when you're at a desk.  Unless you happen to be in Alaska for a few months and need to cuddle your monitor.

Suggested action steps:

1) If in the market for a new TV or monitor consider purchasing an LED which has the lowest energy usage and energy cost
2) Hook up your laptop to the TV and check out the totally awesome Kenna Hell Bent video

Please let me know if you have any comments, compliments, criticisms, or questions regarding this post or have suggestions for future posts. If you'd like to receive future posts via email, enter your email address in the box at the top right labelled "Follow by Email".

Pucker Up - January 3rd

Although this is the January 3rd posting (due to my belated start to 2012) the posting date is February 14th so this post has a Valetine's Day theme.  Since many people will be bestowing gifts of chocolates, flowers, and kisses today I thought a post on oral hygiene would be appropriate.

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Over the past couple of years a blog I read occasionally is The Zero Waste Home.  I was introduced to the blog by a Sunset magazine article that I found incredibly interesting.  Although Amelia and I are nowhere close to being as low-refuse as this family, reading the blog gave me many ideas about how we could lessen our environmental footprint, in ways large, medium, and small.  One suggestion I took from that blog was to change our toothbrushes to a compostable variety.

Commentary:

An estimated 50 million pounds of toothbrushes are deposited in U.S. landfills annually per an E Magazine article from 2005.  (My rough estimate would be about 38 million pounds based on 2 toothbrushes per person per year, at a weight of 1 ounce per toothbrush but the 50 million sounds pretty reasonable.)

Since most toothbrushes are made primarily or entirely of plastic they remain in existence for many (most likely hundreds) of years.

There are a few different brands of compostable toothbrushes available, at a similar cost to the standard plastic toothbrush.  We've used Izola brushes for the past year or so and really like them.  The bristles seem to last longer than our old toothbrushes but maybe it's because we only brush once a week to save water.  Just kidding, for now at least.  Another brand I've seen recommended is The Environmental Toothbrush, but since it's from Australia I believe the cost is higher for U.S. shoppers.

Suggested action steps:

1) Purchase compostable toothbrush
2) Use old plastic toothbrush as a cleaning tool
3) Brush and floss daily
4) Kiss someone daily, or more frequently

Please let me know if you have any comments, compliments, criticisms, or questions regarding this post or have suggestions for future posts.

Happy Valentine's Day / January 3rd Holiday!

Coffee as Fertilizer, It's Not Just for People Anymore - January 2nd

For 2012 I'm writing this blog to document things our family has done to be more Earth-friendly. This is the January 2nd posting. Hopefully you'll find some helpful ideas and decide to take some action to help promote a healthier planet. I'd appreciate any feedback you have, and if you'd like to share successes you've had I'd like to hear them so we can try to do more.
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I haven't always been a coffee drinker, and didn't grow up in a household that drank coffee at all (although my grandparents did). However, in more recent years I've grown fond of the last legal vice and generally have some each day. About a year and a half ago my mother-in-law informed me that not only is coffee delicious, but it is also a great fertilizer.

Commentary:

Coffee is a global commodity, and in recent years it has surged in popularity. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2009, 8,261,487 tons were produced globally. According to PBS Frontline, this amounts to more than 500 billion cups of coffee consumed each year.

Coffee beans have a sizable amount of nitrogen, which is a great fertilizer, and contain around 2% nitrogen by weight. (Here's a Sunset Magazine article that purchased a laboratory analysis of a sample of beans. Also, if you live on the West Coast I highly recommend Sunset for articles on travel, gardening, events, etc. They also regularly publish books on cooking, bird watching, gardening, and many other topics.)

When I first learned of the magical fertilizing properties of coffee I didn't regularly brew or drink coffee, so I didn't have access to used grounds. However, during a winter trip to Kansas I entered a Starbucks and nearly tripped over an overflowing bucket of grounds that was next to the door and available to anyone for free. Little did I know that Starbucks has a 'Grounds for your Garden' program that has been around since 1995 and offers free grounds to customers at their stores.

When I returned from my trip I inquired at my local Starbucks in San Diego about this program and although they weren't participating in the program at the time, I contacted local area manager Joshua Longacre and he got the program going in all of the downtown San Diego stores. I've also since inquired at many other coffee shops and have yet to be turned down on a request for fresh, free grounds.

In addition to helping your plants grow, using grounds in your yard reduces the amount of waste being taken to the landfill.  With the huge amount of coffee produced, that's a big deal.  Two birds with one bean, if you will. The smell of coffee grounds also repels some types of pests, so in addition to promoting growth in your garden they can help deter intruders from eating your carrots.

 Although good for plants, I wouldn't recommend using grounds on houseplants since there's not as much room for the nutrients to disperse and they can make the soil overly acidic.

Suggested action steps:

1) Enjoy coffee (If you don't drink coffee you can get free grounds at most any coffee shop - just ask at the counter and they'll usually be glad to help.)
2) Sprinkle grounds onto garden, lawn, shrubs, trees, etc. I usually pour some water over the grounds too, but you don't have to.  I wouldn't sprinkle one area with grounds more than once a month, and make sure to spread the love. :)
3) Watch plants grow
4) Smile while enjoying shade, fruits and vegetables, or feeling of grass between your toes

Please let me know if you have any comments, compliments, criticisms, or questions regarding this post or have suggestions for future posts. If you'd like to receive future posts via email, enter your email address in the box at the top right labelled "Follow by Email".

Now for a great song with some coffee references:

Thank you!

Category: Food, Garden

Stopping Our Use of Plastic Bags - January 1

For 2012 I'm writing this blog to document things our family has done to be more Earth-friendly.  Below is the 'first' post of the year - for January 1 (I'm playing catch-up right now but hoping to gain some momentum with this post).  Hopefully you'll find some helpful ideas and decide to take some action to help promote a healthier planet.  I'd appreciate any feedback you have, and successes you have had so that my family can do more.

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Plastic bags are a ubiquitous part of modern life and you probably encounter them every day, whether you're making a purchase, walking down the street, or at home or the office.  They're a convenience item and one that I took for granted in the past before thinking more about the impact they have, especially given the limited time of use I had for each bag.

Commentary:

It's hard to find concrete numbers on the environmental effects of plastic bags since it's a highly politicized issue and various groups use their own (often self-serving) figures and statistics.  A number of countries and cities including Ireland, Mexico City, and San Francisco have enacted plastic bag bans and surcharges to reduce the use of these bags and their impact on the environment.  Estimates of the lifespan of plastic bags (time it takes to fully degrade) range from 500 to 1000 years but the exact lifespan can only be estimated since they have existed for less than 100 years.  Regardless of the exact time it takes to fully decompose, it is a very long time and to put it in perspective if Christopher Columbus had used plastic bags on his voyage to North America, they would most likely still exist today.  Additionally, the time to decompose is longer in bodies of water than on land.

There is no firm number for the number of plastic bags produced and used each year but the EPA estimated that that United States uses 380 billion plastic bags each year (this figure was previously reported on the EPA website and cited in many articles but has since been removed and the EPA now does not report plastic bag information separately from plastics in general.  (Here's a 2007 CNN article that cited this EPA figure.) Using this estimate, each person in the United States uses approximately 1,150 plastic bags per year.  On a daily basis that would mean that every American uses more than 3 plastic bags every day of every year. Often these bags are only used for a few minutes before entering the refuse stream but will impact our environment for hundreds of years.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme estimates that plastic bags kill 100,000 turtles and other marine animals annually and that each square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of plastic.  Although the total time for a plastic bag to decompose is long, they do break down into smaller and smaller particles which can cause death to wildlife, but can also enter the food chain as fish and other animals eat the pieces of plastic and are then consumed by larger animals, including humans.  Again, there is a wide range of estimates of the impact that plastic bags have on wildlife and the environment, but it's a small effort to eliminate the use of plastic bags from your daily routine and to make a positive change for the world.  Even if you don't always avoid plastic bags, using fewer is a great step to take and even one less bag per person can make a huge difference in total.

Suggested action steps:

1) Purchase 10 reusable shopping bags - I'm a fan of ChicoBag products, but nearly every grocery store has reusable bags for sale, or sometimes for free.
2) Put a few bags in the trunk of your vehicle(s), put a couple by the front door, put a couple in your purse, backpack, stroller, or other carrying device you often use.
3) Refuse plastic (and paper) shopping bags when at the grocery store, hardware store, restaurant, library, department store, etc. and use your reusable bags.

If you have a few minutes, here's a semi-humorous mockumentary on the migrational habits of plastic bags.

Please let me know if you have any comments, compliments, criticisms, or questions regarding this post or have suggestions for future posts.

Thank you!

- John

Category: Shopping