Title.
This applies to all countries, but please state where you are from to avoid confusion.
With the amount of junk mail people get weekly, I was curious if there are ways you can block, remove or filter the actual mail from ever getting to your mailbox.
The only way is to individually call senders and ask them to stop.
The US Mail system will not take action against junk mail because junk mailers pay for the majority of the upkeep of the mail system.
Think of junk mail like blood plasma. In order to get those red blood cells to you, you need them to be embedded in plasma so they can move through the system.
Thanks for the information; prior to the amount of junk mail today, was this or something similar the case for the pony express or OG mail service?
I don’t know but I doubt it. When logistics were way more expensive they were probably only available to rich people.
Like a lot of the free or cheap services we use today, the US Postal Service is supported by ads.
Germany, “no junk mail and no free newspapers”-stickers stops everything. Punishments for the companies are harsh once a pattern of ignoring those it’s established by the regulatory agency, so everyone down the line all the way to the people distributing them gets pressured to follow the rules.
Edit: this is for generic junk. For letters addressed to you that seem like junk, you’ll have to tell the company you don’t want any more. Which again, they’ll have to obey.
Be careful about “unsubscribing” to various services.
They will unsubscribe you, but then they also have all of your information (name, address, anything else) on record and confirmed. They can profit when the sell that data to another mailer “service”. It’s like a Hydra.
Which country? I don’t think this is the case in germany
Right, many Europeans have basic consumer protections lol
Absolutely. Unrelated to mail but related to data, Microsoft 365 comes with “Microsoft Defender for Individuals”; it monitors the dark web and HIBP for leaks… you can many different things from your personal information to your cards and insurance… sounds interesting at first until you see that Microsoft has partnered with Experian if i recall correctly, so you’re giving information away to a data broker/credit broker.
Yeah that tracks, do Google next haha
You say all countries, but it’s obvious that this is country specific. So here’s my tip: move to Canada, the postal service has a duty to respect
“no junk mail sings”“no junk mail” signs.If junk mail did sing, I would opt in
Yup, you can put a red dot in your mailbox as an indicator that you don’t want any unaddressed mail. You will still get anything with your address on it and political party mail (they have to deliver those) but it cuts out the best majority of crap.
All countries, as in this post isn’t just focusing on one country.
I guess in that sense that is the tip for Canada.
And yeah it’s great. I know a number of Americans who were quite surprised, and pleased. Yeah the post is somewhat more expensive overall, but you have a choice not to get flooded with spam which is totally worth it.
I’ve taken the time to annoy the senders. If they come with a prepaid “business reply mail” envelope you can use this in two ways:
- rip up everything except the envelope into small pieces. Put that into the envelope and mail it back to them.
- if you’re dedicated: get a box and fill it with bricks. Tape the envelope on the box and mail it back to them.
They have to pay the postage either way, but one will cost a lot more than the other.
I use an app called paperkarma. You send them a pic of the junk, they manually unsubscribe you.
They’ve gone to a subscription model because of course they have, I’d be eager to hear about alternatives if any exist.
Thanks for this, it appears that they have a lifetime option and through Honey, it can be brought down to a $41 on time payment.
https://www.dmachoice.org/register.php
In the US, you can register here to “reduce promotional mail offers from companies or organizations you don’t have a business relationship with.” It costs $4 ($5 if you opt to mail in a form instead of filling out the online form), but it registers you for 10 years.
I did this about 7 years ago and I haven’t seen any junk mail since. I added my wife’s name under the “add another version of your name” section (you can have 5 alternate names listed) and junk mail to her stopped too.
Thanks for this; just signed up!
In the U.S. Use something like virtual post mail, or any mailbox service like the ups store . They will filter out all bulk mail. This does not apply to PO boxes, they will not filter any mail.
https://www.virtualpostmail.com/
I love virtual post mail. They’ll open your mail, scan it, email it to you. You never have to deal with the mailbox again.
And they also remove all the bulk mail. So you don’t get any spam.
Nope, but I wish we were getting more junk mail. Every now and then there’s a van driving through the city trading junk paper for stuff like paper towels, napkins, toilet paper, baking paper, aluminum foil, packing tape, soap, etc…
What are they doing with the junk paper?
I guess they recycle it. Checking their website, larger quantities of paper can be traded-in for cash based on color and quality.
I’m in Canada. We’ve never gotten junk mail because our mail delivery person put a green sticker inside the box that says no flyers. We never asked for it, it was always just there. When they upgraded the mail boxes, they put new stickers in too. It’s awesome.
