Huntington News Network
Nov. 5, 2006
COMMENTARY: It’s Time for a ‘No Junk Mail Registry’
By Rene A. Henry
Seattle, WA (Special to HNN) -- If you’re like me, you probably get too
much junk mail. And this being a busy time of the year, with upcoming holidays,
you are probably inundated with gift catalogs. I’ve even received several
copies of the same catalog with only the cover changed. And, the junk mail
problem is only going to escalate.
Since June 2003 we have had a “Do Not Call Registry” and thanks to enforcement
by the Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission and state
governments, my unsolicited telemarketer calls that came mostly during dinner
have nearly stopped. I still get them from political campaigns and from so-called
charitable organizations that are exempt from the regulations.
I am most concerned about first class mail addressed to me. Conversely, the
U.S. Postal Service, because of greed, is more interested in delivering junk
mail. Faxes first reduced the volume of first class mail and then the Internet
and e-mail significantly reduced the USPS’s income. But every time the USPS
needs to balance its budget, first class mail, not junk mail is the first rate
to be increased.
The size of my condominium mailbox is limited. It fills quickly with junk mail
catalogs. If the box is full, the carrier takes the excess mail back to the
station and leaves me a notice. The logical approach would be to leave the
first class mail and take back the junk mail.
The USPS has conspired with the all powerful direct mail lobby to give priority
rights to the junk mailer. You have a right to refuse first class mail and the
sender is charged for its return. However, if you refuse junk mail, it is not
returned to the sender, unless you pay the cost. You must write the sender to
stop sending it to you. If it continues, unfortunately, you have no recourse.
And, don’t expect any help from Postmaster General John E. “Jack” Potter.
If we could return junk mail, and the sender was charged for its return, we all
would be quickly removed from the junk mail lists. Television’s Andy Rooney
makes his protest by taking all of the stamped envelopes sent him in junk mail
and sending them back so the sender has to pay for the return postage.
According to a story in The New York Times by Louise Story, the post office
delivered more than 114 billion pieces of junk mail last year, an increase of
15 percent from five years ago. She writes companies are expected to spend
$59.6 billion this year on junk mail, an increase of $15 billion since 2000 and
$4 billion more than last year.
The Postal Service says it has no authority to require mailers to remove names
from mailing lists or control the selling of names by commercial mailing list
firms. Even if you move and change addresses, the junkers will find you. The
USPS maintains national database accessible to the direct mail marketers to
update their records and mailings to customers who have moved. Good luck in
trying to get your name and address removed from this list!
The worst of junk mail is called “marriage mail,” that is not in an envelope,
not necessarily addressed to anyone and placed loose in my mailbox. I don’t
automatically throw it in the garbage because I’ve found important first class mail,
bills and checks stuck between some of the pages.
If we had a “No Junk Mail Registry” people would not be able to profit by
selling our names and addresses to a junk mailer without our permission. The
minute I open a new bank account, buy a new car or piece of real estate and
take out a mortgage, I get flooded with junk mail. Complain to Postmaster
General Potter and you get an “Alfred E. Neumann” response.
You get little sympathy from your local postmaster who is directed to support
the case for junk mail. The first time I complained, my local post office sent
me a list of five organizations to write to be removed from junk mail lists. To
let you know how conscientious the USPS was about helping me, four of the
addresses on their list were wrong and my letters were returned to me
undeliverable!
The Direct Marketing Association, the trade organization of junk mailers, says
it assists people who want to get off junk mail lists. Write: Mail Preference
Service, Direct Marketing Association,
I also did not get the support I expected from my representatives in Congress.
After all, they get free “franked” mail and don’t want to have to start paying
for their postage. However, any environmentally conscious or green member of
Congress should support a “No Junk Mail Registry” since paper comprises 40 to
50 percent of the trash in a typical landfill. Let’s keep reminding our elected
representatives in
Rene A. Henry lives in