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Junk Mail
Did you Know?
- Junk mail generates over ½ million tonnes of waste every year in the UK!
- 90% of junk mail ends up not being read and in the bin
- 1 tonne of junk mail = 17 trees
- Junk mail = 3% or our household waste
- Portsmouth residents receive, on average, 4kg of junk mail a year!
By following our top tips you can help reduce the amount of junk mail you receive:
Register with the Mailing Preference Service - A free service that will remove your name from most mailing lists in this country. It will take a few months to become effective but it will help to stop up to 95% addressed junk mail being delivered to you.
Website: Mailing Preference Service
Tel: 0845 703 4599
Email: mps@dma.org.uk
write to: Mailing Preference Service Registrations, Department 6130, Camberwell Way, Sunderland, SR9 9XZ
Register with Royal Mail - To help reduce the amount of unaddressed mail being delivered by the Royal Mail, you can either write to them at the address below or email them at optout@royalmail.com . This is a free service and should take about six weeks to be effective. This will not stop mail addressed ‘To the occupier’ being received, although it will prevent community newsletters from your city council and that are delivered by Royal Mail, e.g. Flagship.
Write to: Door to Door Customer Services, Room 130, Wheatstone House, Wheatstone Road, Swindon, SN3 5JW
Display a ‘No Junk Mail’ sticker to your front door - Put a note on your front door or letter box requesting that you do not want free newspaper, circulars, flyers or leaflets.
Remove your name from mailing lists - If you regularly receive unwanted mail from the same companies you could contact them and tell them to remove your name from their mailing list. Do this either by writing to them or by mailing the letter back to the company with ‘Return to Sender, Unsolicited Mail. Please remove my name from the mailing list’ written on the envelope and putting it back into the post, you won’t need a stamp to do this.
Companies are obliged to remove your name if your write to them, for more help about writing to organisations visit the Information Commissioners Office.
Mailing lists - Be careful when giving out your details – make sure that when you are filling in forms and questionnaires to tick the box stating that you do not want to receive further information or offers or that your name will be handed on to a third party. Companies are legally obliged to give this option.
Voting - The information you give on the annual electoral registration is added to the ‘edited voting register’ and this can be bought by companies to use for marketing by sending junk mail. To avoid this make sure you state on the form you do not want your details being included on the ‘edited voting register’
Paperless statements - If you use the Internet to do your banking, opt for e-statements rather than paper bills in the post.
My Letter Box - This site allows you to surpress all direct mail or just the bits you don't want.
If you still continue to receive some junk mail, don’t forget to recycle it in your collection bin.
