A Silent Fight Against Paper Waste
Is it just at our house or do all of you get a ridiculous number of bills with return envelopes, too? You all know that I’ve gotten worked up about all the waste we have on numerous occasions. We even talked here on Making This Home about ways to eliminate junk mail. But despite my efforts to keep out the mail we don’t want… those bills just keep coming. And with them are those annoying return envelopes.
I never really noticed just how many envelopes we got until we had four separate accounts at one place. Instead of putting all of our bills in the same envelope each month, we got four letters in the mail with four return envelopes. When I called to request all of my bills in one envelope to save them money (maybe they didn’t know a girl could have four accounts), the lady thought I was nuts. It was much easier to mail me four envelopes.
Regardless of if you use return envelopes to pay your bills or do everything online, how many of you would mail back four payments?
I needed a solution to all this waste.
Now Martin says I take things to the extreme. That might be true. You can’t stand for what you believe unless you stand up for it all the time, right? So today I fully intended on writing about the new pilot item I got; then the mail came. Change of plans. So now I thought I’d completely embarrass myself and admit my excess envelope solution when it comes to small businesses and and local places like the power company.
I reserve the top drawer center of these plastic bins for things like return envelopes.
Once or twice a year, I scoop up my envelope collection and knock on the door of the business that sent the envelopes. I hand them the stack and casually mention how I accrued it. Oddly, the same woman that told me it was easier to mail four bills every month was thrilled when I gave her my heap. She told me they could use more envelopes!
Do you find yourself standing up against something you don’t agree with even if you’re standing alone?
June 12th, 2009 at 3:29 am
I know exactly what you mean. Every two months, I walk my water bill to the town hall, pay my bill in person and hand them back the return envelope. Fighting waste, one envelope at a time…
June 12th, 2009 at 5:17 am
Good idea to return the envelopes. With the Internet how it is now, you would think that most places would offer the option to go paperless. That’s definitely our way to pay the bills, even if they come with a paper envelope — we save a stamp and send that check electronically.
Our bank, ING Direct, lets us do this with any bill. If they cannot find a way to electronically send your payment, they’ll even save you the stamp by sending the payment to your truly stone age creditors in a bulk mailing. That way, you can collect all of your return envelopes, saving more paper and more stamps than before.
June 12th, 2009 at 6:00 am
I sure do. And good for you – but what about enrolling in electronic bill pay – then they don’t even send you the bill in the mail, much less the envelopes!
June 12th, 2009 at 6:31 am
Hi Katie,
I’m a first time commenter, but longtime lurker. :) So, hello! I thought you might be interested in this website: http://mailstopper.tonic.com/
I don’t know how well they address junk mail in Europe, but they do help to stem the flow here in the U.S. They even plant 5 trees for each member. Check out their website. It is not free, but it IS a non-profit company that uses its fees to sustain their charity work.
Keep fighting the good fight and know that you’re not alone!
June 12th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Let me say that so many people complain about it; you’re the first one I know who has actively done something. Bravo!
June 12th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
I’ve gone to mostly paperless billing because I lose the paper ones. When I do get an envelope – I usually use it for something else… holding a few coupons, dropping a deposit in the night box etc.
June 12th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
I agree with you. I hate getting all this junk mail, but people love sending it!
June 12th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I pay all my utility bills through direct withdrawal every month. The utility companies just automatically take the money form my account every month. They still send me a statement that says don’t pay this bill because it will be directly taken out. They still send an envelope with it! I use them for scrap paper.
June 12th, 2009 at 9:49 pm
First off, yeah to Melissa for leaving her first comment! I love meeting new readers – so thank you!
We’ve gone paperless in every way we possibly could, just like many of you. Isn’t it fab? The problem is that some small businesses just can’t handle the financial or technical burdens/resources of going paperless like big companies can. Way to share the paper-cringing love. You all know just how to make me smile!
Katie
June 14th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Is there any way that you can reuse the envelopes for other envelope needs, such as personal correspondence or for a bill that doesn’t come with a return envelope? I use white address labels to cover the writing on the envelopes and use them for things like that.
June 15th, 2009 at 6:14 am
Hello! While I understand everyone’s want to stop the waste of paper, this is a touchy subject for me. Now days everyone is paying bills online, etc and mail volume with the post office is WAY down. As the wife of postal employee, I pay all my bills through direct mail. I don’t ever complain about junk mail because that is where our lively hood comes from. There our two sides to every story. While many people want to save paper, money by not buying stamps, and time they do everything online. But by doing this, they are also putting someone out of a job and therefore increasing the unemployment rate!Thanks for letting me comment my two cents!
June 15th, 2009 at 9:43 am
You make a very valid point, Stacie. Thanks for sharing it. We’ll have to be thankful our families weren’t in the video rental business. Ugh!
Katie
August 28th, 2009 at 5:07 am
I think people should be aware that junk mail subsidises mail delivery costs to remote communities.
I live in Scotland and we have a postal service to our farm door.I doubt the amount of private mail would cover the
costs of delivery. We would then have to drive to the nearest town to check a mailbox and that’s hardly good for the environment. At the moment I’m considering getting as much junk mail as possible delivered, to fuel my solid fuel boiler. The postman will be pleased as well.
Just an opinion!