When you're waiting for an important letter, there is nothing worse than checking the mail only to find unwanted junk. Luckily, a viral TikTok video shows how to stop intrusive junk mail from ending up in your mailbox.
Junk mail is a small but annoying occurrence for almost every U.S. household, with each receiving more than 800 pieces every year. Plus, it's wasteful. Most of this mail is not opened and simply heads to a landfill, which wastes money and paper and produces polluting gases.
In the video, TikTok user Karleigh heads to the frequently asked questions page on the United States Postal Service website.
On this page, Karleigh shows that it's possible to remove your name from junk mailing lists for a small fee. While it is not guaranteed to remove junk mail completely, removing yourself from mailing lists can eliminate up to 80% of your personal overload of junk mail.
@therealikarleigh #stitch with @suttonsour you can thank me now, or you can thank me later #greenscreen #usps #mailads ♬ original sound - ikarleigh
To tackle multiple kinds of unwanted mail at once, you can try the DMAchoice.org management service for $4, or CatalogChoice.org as a free — but limited — alternative.
The TikTok video also shows how to stop credit card and insurance junk mail. To stop this kind of promotional mail, you can make a toll-free call at 1-888-567-8688 or visit optoutprescreen.com.
After watching Karleigh's tips, we did a little digging and also found a handy way of stopping mail that is not addressed to you. If you keep receiving mail from past residents, all you need to do is write "not at this address" and place it in a USPS drop box.
However, if you're receiving mail addressed to a deceased person, you'll have to fill out a Deceased Do Not Contact registration form online.
So, other than avoiding annoyance, why should you stop junk mail from being sent to your address?
Well, there are roughly 100 billion pieces of unwanted marketing mail sent to U.S. consumers every single year. That equates to 100 million trees being cut down. So if more people opted out of junk mail, it could have a positive impact on the planet.
Commenters on the video were grateful for Karleigh's tips and keen to put them into action to help reduce the amount of junk mail waste.
One user says, "This is the best 4 dollars I've ever spent," while another simply writes, "BLESS YOU."
Many users comment on their anger at having to pay a fee to opt out of the wasteful service, leading some to share their own environmentally friendly junk mail hacks.
One user comments, "if you have a paper shredder and a friend with a small animal it makes great bedding for pets!'.
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