Greene My Mailbox

I am ruthless in my quest to eradicate junk mail, that well-documented a waste of trees and ink and mail-carrier energies. 

Every time anything comes in that I don't want -- catalogs, special discount offers, charitable appeals, etc. -- I tear off the back page or the "contact us" section and stick it in a file folder. At intervals, I actually call every single junk-mailer individually and request my name be removed from those mailing lists. It's amazing how effective is this technique in stanching the flow of buy-by-mail offers!

(No flies on Patricia Zapata @ A Little Hut, who made her grocery circulars into beautiful art.

Still, sometimes it's a hard request to make. Who wants to halt the Smile Train or call off the Salvation Army troops? These are worthy organizations doing good work, and I don't want to be a Scrooge. But, I am not in a position to give to every single organization that solicits me. (I give a designated annual amount to each of my four top priorities, then, I mentally allocate a pool of funds for friends doing charitable runs, walks, and other sporadic fundraisers.) By calling off the hounds from groups who won't be successful in soliciting me, I'm saving them money and, in that way, supporting their missions. 

(Behold, the work of a true genius. Santa Fe artist Nancy Judd created this gown out of -- you guessed it! -- junk mail. Behold even more @ www.recyclerunway.com)

Lastly, I instructed Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to put a security freeze on my credit report, preventing them from releasing my credit report without my consent, and resulting in ZERO new credit card offers! It's a miracle. (I'll call to unfreeze a few days before I'll need it.)

Less for me to cart to my recycling bins and less waste of time and high-gloss photos can only be described as a Mailbox Greene-Over!