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Declaring Your Independence
from Junk mail
A How-To Guide
Don't Let Marketers Pass Your Name Around
Any time you order a product by mail, enter a contest, subscribe to a magazine, send in a warranty card, or otherwise give your name and address to a company or organization, you may be placed on a mailing list. The company or organization may then rent, sell or trade the list with your name on it. To limit your exposure, write "Please do not rent or sell my name" or "No mailing lists" next to your name. (Also consider not sending in the warranty card for a new product - it's usually not required.)
Sign Up For The Mail Preference Service to Reduce Junk mail, Telephone Solicitations and Email Spam
One effective way to remove your name from national mailing lists is to write the Direct Marketing Association and register with their Mail Preference Service - an indication that you do not want to be contacted by solicitors. (This actually works. Even marketers do not want to waste their efforts on people who have explicitly stated they are not interested.)
Postal mail
Registering for the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service (MPS) will help to remove your name and address from mailing lists. According to the introductory page on the DMA website, your name remains on the MPS list for three years (meaning your junk mail will be reduced), after which time you may register again.
Simply go to https://www.dmachoice.org/MPS/proto1_reg.php and choose the online or mail-in registration form (both require you to fill in your info online, but the mail-in form takes your info and creates a page for you to print out). Processing the request either online or via the mail costs a dollar.
Telephone solicitations
Cut down on calls from telemarketers by registering online at www.donotcall.gov.
Junk e-mail
Reduce unsolicited commercial e-mail by registering online at https://www.dmachoice.org/MPS/proto1.php.
Sick of Credit Card Offers?
The main consumer credit reporting agencies, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax, maintain mailing lists that are often used by credit card and insurance companies to send out Junk mail. The good news is that you can call a single number to get your name and address removed from the mailing lists circulated by all three agencies (as well as that of a fourth company, Innovis).
Just call: 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688)
The number - which connects you to a recorded message - works 24 hours a day. You will be prompted to give your full name, address, telephone number and social security number. (People often ask about the necessity of giving their social security number. The credit bureaus already have access to people's social security numbers, and claim that they ask for the numbers here to confirm the requests). When given options, press 3 to have your name removed permanently, or press 1 to have your name removed for just two years.
Unwanted Catalogs: Make a Quick Call to the 800 Number
If you receive unwanted catalogs or other mail from specific sources, call the (often toll-free) customer service number of the organization or business. Request that your name be removed from their mailing list. Other options are to make your request via e-mail from the company's website, or via letter or postcard. Since the mailing label will help the company identify how you are listed in its files, have the label handy when you call, or tape it to the postcard if you make a written request. Sign and date your request.
Reduce Unwanted Mail At Work
The Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service cannot be used for business addresses, so you'll need a different strategy to stop Junk mail at work. For tips on how to deal with business Junk mail, see the National Waste Prevention Coalition's "Reduce Business Junk mail" website at: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/nwpc/bizJunk mail.htm
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