A VERY tiny thing we can do to save our Earth!

[Brijrian]

To my esteemed Cauldron members:
I'm formally inviting you to click on this link!!
http://www.greendimes.com/usa?src=mem&uid=28630

Did You Know?
To produce junk mail for one year, we use 100 million trees and 28 billion gallons of water.

For a dime a day ($3 a month) they will reduce your postal junk by 75-90% AND plant one tree a month for each member.

This way they have so far saved hundreds of thousands of trees AND hundreds of thousands of gallons of water which would have been used to produce that junk mail we all complain about.

Plus they are planting new trees!!!

I've joined! I'm hoping you will too!

Have a very Green day!

[Zenon]

I'm more for ending junk mail than for saving the planet.



What a terrible thing to say, right?

To hell with junk mail!!!!!!!!

[Fillionous]

This is a brilliant idea...
Unfortunetly the link seems to be broken... loping me back to Branwen's?

Might be good if it works for UK residents... Although I have already joined the mailing preferance service... which puts you on a list so that (at least reputable) companies don't send you unsolicited post.

BE bright, be bold
Fillionous

[Shadow]

Looks suspiciously like a scam to get your $36 to me.

Sorry, if junk mail weren't efffective they wouldn't do it. I don't see them stopping because soemone asks them to.

My suggestion, do what I do with junk mail. The junk mail that comes to my box goes directly to the recycling bin without so much as a glance at the content. Doesn't clutter my counter tops either and ends up as part of the percentage of post consumer content in the recycled paper products I buy.

[Zenon]

Looks suspiciously like a scam to get your $36 to me.

Sorry, if junk mail weren't efffective they wouldn't do it. I don't see them stopping because soemone asks them to.

My suggestion, do what I do with junk mail. The junk mail that comes to my box goes directly to the recycling bin without so much as a glance at the content. Doesn't clutter my counter tops either and ends up as part of the percentage of post consumer content in the recycled paper products I buy.

Sounds totally reasonable!  That's what junk mail is for...  Recycling!  And let the advertisers, designers, and printers keep their jobs.

[Still Kate]

I re-cycle my junk mail too ..... infact I re-cycle everything thats humanly possible to re-cycle. I buy bio-degradable nappies and washable ones but there's a catch 22 with those as I have to use energy to wash them. I buy bio-degradable bin bags (trash bags) so my effect on the landfill isnt as bad as it could be.
We also have a web site in England called Re-cycle where I can advertise things I don't want anymore and someone who can use the items comes and gets them, its based on local area so the travel isn't too great and its all free of charge. Saves throwing stuff out.
I also save any envelopes for making notes on - shopping lists etc and when I'm done these get recycled too.

Ryan especially likes re-cycling as he earns his pocket money sorting it all out into the right bins.

[Anonymous]

In the US you can opt out of receiving unsolicited credit card offers.

https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t

You can also opt out of direct mail
http://www.the-dma.org/consumers/offmailinglist.html

All information can be found here at the Federal Trade Commission:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt063.shtm

This will go a long way to decreasing the amount of unwanted mail in your mail box and it's free.

I can go days now without any mail and it's wonderful.

[Jennie]

Down here we call it "Free-cycle", and it is the BEST!!

We have given away tons of stuff that was simply cluttering up the place, and received, among other things, a clothes washer and dryer, an upright freezer, an exercise bike, a lamp, a desk, clothing, throw pillows, books, a python, and an aquarium - all absolutely free, and all in good condition.

I urge everyone to join a local free-cycling group. You'll help keep this stuff out of the landfills, and save boatloads of money on stuff you need, too!

Jennie

[Rin]

I second Free-Cycle. Its an excellent community to be apart of. ^^

Reuse comes before Recycle. ^^

[Lark]

Another simple thing to do is to replace your garden variety light bulbs with the newer flourescent ones.  They cost a bit more initially, but they burn for many, many more hours and use a lot less electricity.  Less electricity means using less coal, cutting down both on polution and on coal consumption.

-Lark-

[Brijrian]

I have a question about those bulbs. I want to convert to the energy efficient ones, but I have a bunch of old ones that haven't died yet, and a couple of extra in the cupboard.

I am wondering: Energy and such was put into the making of those bulbs. Is it more earth friendly to just throw away the new and not-yet-burnt-out ones and replace them? Or is it better to replace them as they burn out?


Oh..p.s. I heard about GreenDimes on Oprah.com, so I don't think it's a scam (at least I hope not!)