Thursday, January 10, 2008

Garbage Diary- Day 3

At Work

Recycled
Cereal Box
Aluminum foil off of yogurt container

Trash
Plastic bag in cereal box
2 tea bags
2 tea bag packets
1 sugar cube (it fell on the floor)
1 orange peel
Piece of plastic in between yogurt and foil (What is the point of this, anyway?)

At Home

Recycled
8 envelopes
4 unsolicited postcards
Bulk mail
6 unsolicited letters

I finally paid the dollar to get myself off direct marketing lists, but I guess the change hasn't fully gone into effect yet, so I'm still getting unsolicited mail. I also get a lot of unsolicited mail to "So And So or Current Resident," and I'm not sure if there's an effective way to stop getting those. I once wrote, "Return to sender," and left it for the postal carrier, because I figured I'm not So And So, and the postal carrier put the letter BACK in my mail box and underlined the "or current resident part." I also don't know that there's a way to get out of the bulk mail. I know that someone in building has written on his box, "No bulk mail, please," and I keep meaning to ask him if it actually works. Because doesn't the post office get PAID to deliver you that bulk mail whether you want it or not? And if they don't, aren't they in violation of their agreement with the bulk mailers?

3 comments:

Chile said...

If you ever want to make your own corn tortillas, the plastic liners from cereal boxes work great. The masa dough won't stick to them too badly and it holds up well to repeated uses.

ScienceMama said...

I used to work for the post office. To get out of the bulk mailings, you have to file a request with the post office. It is then the mail carriers responsibility to remember to NOT put the bulk mail in your box. Most people who file the request put a reminder in their box to remind their regular mail carrier (and inform any substitute carriers) that they have filed the request. This is especially critical when you're living in an apartment complex where there are 30 identical mailboxes.

But just writing a note or talking to your regular carrier is not enough. You have to file the request. I keep meaning to do this. Thanks for the reminder.

Asset gatherer said...

Hey there-- I'm fascinated with your garbage diary! I've been trying out 41pounds.org, and had an employee from the nonprofit comment on my blog post. She talked about DMA. You can read it here: http://assetsandliabilities.blogspot.com/2008/01/follow-up-on-41-pounds.html