Save the CO2-absorbing forests, stop junk mail.

The average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail each year, according to 41pounds.org, a web service that promises to stop 85-90% of unwanted catalogs and junk mail for you. Assuming one tree makes about 170 pounds of paper, and recycled content makes up only a small portion of your mail, 50 million or so trees are felled to keep the 205 million adult Americans in mountains of unwanted mail. As a single tree absorbs about a ton of CO2 over its lifetime, then roughly 50 million tons of the heat-trapping pollutant is being released annually into the atmosphere to make America’s junk mail, almost half of which gets dumped unopened.

Take a morning, or even part of a morning, to “just say no”: No to junk mail, no to wasting trees, no to global warming. A number of web services exist that can help you manage your mail by getting your name removed from lists you don’t want to be on, so you just get the mail you need or do want to get. Even the Direct Mail Association appreciates there is a problem and wants to help you. It’s quite easy, so start today by signing up with one or all of these excellent services: 41pounds.org, Catalogchoice.org, and/or DMAChoice.org. 41pounds.org charges $41 for five years of service, CatalogChoice.org welcomes donations, and DMAChoice.org, which can also help you control the flow of commercial emails, is free.