Sustainable IT | Ted Samson » Catalog Choice spares businesses and users from paper waste

November 06, 2007 | Comments: (0)

Catalog Choice spares businesses and users from paper waste

TAGS: Paper waste

E-mail spam is an irritant, but today's filters seem pretty adept at filing those unwanted messages in the junk mail folder. To me, junk mail of the tree-pulp variety is far worse. It doesn't match spam for sheer quantity or often distasteful content (mine doesn't, anyway). But it does represent a huge waste of resources if you consider the expense required to print and ship something to a home or office that's going to end up heading directly into the recycling bin.

Of course, as the recipient, I'm not footing the bill; I'm just briefly inconvenienced as I sort through my mail. But I'd think a merchant would want to know that I have absolutely no desire to receive its periodic catalogs so said merchant could save some money by no longer sendnig them to me.

Thus, I was pleased to learn from a co-worker about a Web site called Catalog Choice, a sponsored project of the Ecology Center. It's free service is straight-forward: Head over to the site and set up an account. Sort through the database of merchants who send you catalogs you don't want. Enter the exact name and address to which the catalog is shipped. Voila. You should stop receiving those catalogs within 10 weeks, according to the site.

If you're a merchant looking to reduce the number of unwanted catalogs you send out, you can contact the folks at Catalog Choiceand they'll set up a merchant account for you. You can choose to have your catalog opt-outs sent regularly via XML or CSV files.

Posted by Ted Samson on November 6, 2007 12:44 PM

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