Dear Tee Cee >> My apartment complex has a recycling bin next to our mailbox area, and it is always full to the brim with junk mail. It blows my mind that junk mail is still a thing. It seems like an incredible waste of paper. Do you know of any way to reduce junk mail?

- Liz

Dear Liz, Junk mail, or “unsolicited mail,” is a waste of trees that serve as habitat for animals and for indigenous communities. It’s an unnecessary creation of pollution resulting from bleaching and producing the paper, a waste of ink, and a waste of everyone’s time and attention!

While junk mail is recyclable, this is a great example of where reducing waste in the first place is far better for the environment than just recycling after the true damage has already been done. According to Harvard’s sustainability webpage, about 100 MILLION trees are cut down yearly to produce junk mail. These trees could have been pulling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and providing a habitat for wildlife and humans. Instead, they get processed into catalogs and advertisements and only a small percentage of them are even viewed. Every year, an estimated four million tons of junk mail end up in US landfills, rotting without access to oxygen and emitting greenhouse gasses in the process.

Here are a few tips to prevent these impacts by stopping the waste from coming to your mailbox:

Look for phrases on junk mail such as “return service requested” and “forwarding service requested.” Write “Refused, Return to Sender” on the junk mail and send it back out with your outgoing mail. Your name will be removed from their list.

Call the customer service number or email on specific sources of incoming mail and request that your name be removed from their mailing list and any lists they rent, trade, or sell. Don’t forget this last critically important part to prevent your name from being shared further.

To cut out credit card solicitations, one of the most common types of junk mail, call 1-888-567-8688 or visit optoutprescreen.com. There are multiple online services that help you remove your name and address from circulation. The “do-not-mail” service at dmachoice.org is a 10-year subscription that costs just $4. Catalog Choice at catalogchoice.org is managed by the nonprofit The Story of Stuff. PaperKarma at paperkarma.org has an app that helps you eliminate individual junk mail items.

Pass these tips along to your friends and family members. This info and more can be found at ecocycle.org/junkmail.

-Tee Cee

Questions? Comments? Zero Waste tips you’d like to share? Email recycle@ecocycle.org or call Eco-Cycle at 303-444-6634.