What do you think? Will government create a Do-Not-Mail registry akin to the Do-Not-Call registry? One environmental group urges consumers to lobby their representatives to create a Do-Not-Junk registry to make it easier for consumers to get off mailing lists [www.newdream.org/junkmail].

According to the New American Dream, Americans receive 100 million trees worth of bulk mail each year -- 44% is thrown away unopened. The annual production and disposal of direct mail uses as much energy as 2.4 million gas-guzzlers on the road. Direct mail has an environmental price. Even the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) reports that only 30% of direct mail pieces and catalogs are recycled by consumers.

Fortunately, the DMA has several initiatives to help direct marketers reduce their environmental impact (and preempt unwanted legislation). Any marketer can use the DMA’s “Environmental Policy Generator Tool” [www.the-dma.org/envgen]. Despite the awkward name, this on-line resource helps marketers identify effective ways to green their direct mail campaigns.

Reducing environmental impact means choosing the right paper and printing processes, as well as preventing duplicate, unwanted, and undeliverable mail. It’s simply good business to send mail only to people who want it. That’s why the DMA asks marketers to maintain their own do-not-mail lists and to use the DMA’s Mail Preference Service (consumers put their names on this registry to avoid unsolicited mail).

Sounds responsible. So why did the DMA recently start charging consumers to add their names to this do-not-mail list? Admittedly, it only costs a dollar per name, but that adds up if your household has lots of names (and misspellings). And, you have to reregister every couple of years. I can’t be the only consumer irritated by the principle of having to pay to prevent junk mail. If the direct mail industry won’t maintain a free do-not-mail list, consumers will increasingly support government action.

Another alternative emerged in October in the form of www.catalogchoice.org. Consumers can go to this free site to stop receiving duplicate and unwanted catalogs. Over 400,000 people have signed up to stop receiving over 5,000,000 catalogs. From what I can tell, this service only works for catalogs you already receive – it won’t prevent new unsolicited catalogs and it doesn’t stop unwanted letters. This site was created by environmental groups and is funded by participating direct marketers.

So what do you think? Will this type of voluntary initiative be enough to ward off the creation of a government mandated do-not-mail registry?

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