By Paul Smith •
April 3, 2008
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Junk Mail. Two words, a lot of impact. 100 million trees worth annually in the US, along with the resources used to print them, plus the resulting additional emissions generated carrying them around to their final destination, your mailbox. What to do, aside from recycle?
The first option that may come to mind is the well advertised Green Dimes service. It does indeed seem to do a great job at reducing mailings, up to 90% in three months, and they plant 10 trees for you while they’re at it. I do have a qualm with tree planting however, as it’s recently been shown that this popular eco guilt reliever has also resulted in the displacement of people in places like Uganda that tree planting companies want to make use of for this now increasingly lucrative business. But I digress…
Green Dimes would seem a fine option, but for one thing - there’s a better one out there.
By Juliet Ames •
January 21, 2008
So, the kidlets are home from school today, bugging you for something to do, and you are hiding on the computer, catching up on blogs? Why not turn the computer off (after reading this, of course) and work on a junk mail craft together?
Paper bead making is a great craft for your little fashionista and is pretty simple to do. Using only junk mail, a toothpick and glue, this project is an easy way to get in a casual lesson on green living.
First, scour your junk mail pile and old magazines for colorful shiny paper to create your beads. The shiny varnished paper is pretty strong, brightly colored, and somewhat water proof. It is also more expensive to recycle, making it perfect for a project like this. Once your paper is selected, simply follow the following easy steps from HGTV:
By Juliet Ames •
January 14, 2008
The book “50 Simple Things You Can Do To Save The Earth” listed stopping unwanted junk mail as its #2 recommendation. Some interesting junk mail statistics from the book include: Each year, 100 million trees are used to produce junk mail; 250,000 homes could be heated with one day’s supply of junk mail; and Americans receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail every year. Yikes! And I thought these unwanted ads were just an annoyance! [...]
By Jennifer Lance •
October 24, 2007
We’ve covered the topic of junk mail before in our daily tips (see Tip o’ the Day: War on Junk Mail), but a new website is offering consumers an easy way to get rid of unwanted catalogues. With the holiday season approaching, my mailbox has become inundated with catalogues for every product under the sun. Previously, I have sent individual letters to each company, as well as signed up for
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By Amy Stodghill •
August 7, 2007
Okay, so you probably won’t be 100% paper-free just yet, but there are several things you can do to eliminate a lot of uncessary paper in your life. It is as easy as making a few phone calls and moving online.
Pay bills online. Credit card companies and utility providers encourage their customers to manage their accounts and pay bills online. Sure this makes it easier for them - less
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Congrats to the good folks over at Green Dimes for raising a big ol’ round of funding. There’s nothing like an eight figure investment to kick your company to the next level.
Most people hate junk mail — how many are willing to pay to stop it? Palo Alto-based startup GreenDimes is betting a lot will, and according to PEHub has raised a whopping $20.5 million in a first round of funding, led by Tudor Investment Corporation.
GreenDime’s site says it has “tens of thousands of members” and the annual fee is $36 per year (a dime a day). For that price the company says it will reduce your junk mail by a 75% to 90% and plant one tree a month. GreenDimes was founded by entrepreneur Pankaj Shah, who also founded 4INFO and MetroFi.
