Organizing Tips, Tricks and Techniques

How to Reduce Unwanted Mail, E-mail, Faxes and Phone Calls

The time it takes to deal with unwanted mail, e-mail, faxes and phone calls can be overwhelming and it certainly distracts you from the attention you need to devote to more important daily activities. There have been some great strides made in recent years to help cut back on the quantity of these annoying solicitations, but we still have quite a way to go. Fortunately there are steps you can take to help reduce these intrusions, though it is probably impossible to eliminate them completely.

Unwanted Catalogs
One of the ways I use to cut down on clutter is to stop unwanted mail and catalogs from coming into the home in the first place. To remove your name from undesired catalog mailing lists, I recommend the free service at Catalog Choice. You get to select the company and they deliver your opt-out request and keep track of the company's confirmation. It is an easy, secure and effective way to reduce clutter and waste.

Phone Calls
Visit the Do Not Call Registry website: www.nationaldonotcallregistry.com and register all the telephone numbers (including cell phones) for which you do not want to receive solicitation phone calls.

Junk Mail
To cut back on unwanted first class mail, write "REFUSED - RETURN TO SENDER" on the unopened envelope. It can help to add "REMOVE FROM MAIL LIST. DO NOT SELL OR TRADE ADDRESS."

To cut back on unwanted bulk mail, use the enclosed return envelope (this actually costs the sender money) and write "REMOVE FROM MAIL LIST. DO NOT SELL OR TRADE ADDRESS." on their solicitation letter or order form.

Direct Marketing Association - Consumer Assistance
The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) does not provide marketers with consumer mailing lists nor do mailings themselves. However their Mail Preference Service is available to help remove you name and address from mailing lists. They also help with valuable information on online privacy and many valuable tips for parents. You can find our more information by visiting the DMA's website: www.dmaconsumers.org.

Credit Cards
If you want to stop credit card bureaus from selling your information to banks and credit card companies, call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688).

Warranty Cards
The warranty cards you receive with products you purchase are a means of gathering names for direct mail lists. You are covered by the warranty whether the card is returned or not. However, be sure to keep your receipt and the warranty information.

Junk Faxes
There are two major broadcasters of faxed advertisements. Contact them directly and ask to be removed from all advertisers' lists:

Vision Lab: E-mail your fax number to removal@visionlab.com. The subject line must read: "remove xxx-xxx-xxxx" (your fax number). You must send one e-mail per fax number you want removed.
Protus: Call 1-888-733-000, then press 4 for the broadcast department. Enter your fax number.

E-mail
We all receive "spam" - tons of it - and unfortunately there is no effective means of completely eliminating it. Never, ever REPLY or respond to an unsolicited e-mail message. This just confirms that your e-mail address is valid and will result in increased clogging of your inbox.

Companies who use e-mail for marketing are supposed to comply with something called the CANN-SPAM law. This require them to provide a means for you to opt-out of their e-mail list. Use it to unsubscribe to e-mails you receive but don't want. Look for a link that says something like "click here to unsubscribe" or "click here to be removed."

If you don't find such an option, use the "SPAM" or "JUNK" button in your e-mail program to delete the e-mail. This will alert your e-mail provider that this and future e-mails of its type should be blocked from your inbox. It won't work wonders, but eventually it should help reduce the amount of unsolicited e-mails that you receive.