Did you know that more than 100 million trees are destroyed each year for junk mail? Plus 28 billion gallons of water and enough energy to power more than 9 million cars! When we stop junk mail and catalogs, we keep trees in the forests doing what they do best – providing oxygen for us to breathe and absorbing C02 to keep our planet cool and healthy.


Eco-messaging

We can also alter the way we use our gadgets to cut our digital carbon footprints. One of the easiest ways is to switch they way we send messages.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the footprint of an email also varies dramatically, from 0.3g CO2e for a spam email to 4g (0.14oz) CO2e for a regular email and 50g (1.7oz) CO2e for one with a photo or hefty attachment, according to Mike Berners-Lee, a fellow at Lancaster University who researches carbon footprints. These figures, however, were crunched by Berners-Lee 10 years ago. Charlotte Freitag, a carbon footprint expert at Small World Consulting, the company founded by Berners-Lee, says the impact of emailing may have gone up.

“We think the footprint per message might be higher today because of the bigger phones people are using,” she says.

Stop Junk Mail ~ a Personal Nuisance & Environmental Hazard

• Keep trees in the forest. More than 100 million trees are destroyed each year to produce junk mail. 42% of timber harvested nationwide becomes pulpwood for paper.
• Reduce global warming. The world’s temperate forests absorb 2 billion tons of carbon annually. Creating and shipping junk mail produces more greenhouse gas emissions than 9 million cars.
• Save water. About 28 billion gallons of water are wasted to produce and recycle junk mail each year.
• Save time. You waste about 70 hours a year dealing with junk mail.
  
  

Your Mailbox Today

• The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year. 44% goes to the landfill unopened.
• On average, we receive 16 pieces of junk mail a week, compared to only 1.5 personal letters.
• The pulp and paper industry is the single largest consumer of water used in industrial activities in OECD countries and is the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter, after the chemical and steel industries.
• The majority of household waste consists of junk mail.
• 40% of the solid mass that makes up our landfills is paper and paperboard waste.
• Junk mail inks have high concentrations of heavy metals, making the paper difficult to recycle.
• $320 million of local taxes are spent to dispose of junk mail each year instead of providing parks, libraries, health care and other valuable services.
• Transporting junk mail costs $550 million a year.
• Credit card applications and other junk mail we receive may be used in identity theft and fraud.

Your Mailbox Tomorrow

• By stopping your junk mail, you’ll conserve approximately 20 trees and 7,000 gallons of water, and prevent global warming emissions – and you’ll gain about 3,000 hours of free time!
• By stopping your junk mail you are also supporting the mission of Jean-Michel Cousteau 's Ocean Futures Society!

Reference from Internet