Spring is in the air and many of us are enjoying the budding trees and the flowers blooming. It's a perfect time to take a look at how we can be kinder to the earth with the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd. One very simple way to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle is to incorporate paper and mail organizing strategies in your home. Below are some easy ways to reduce the paper clutter and do your part in conserving earth's resources.
-The first step is reducing the amount of paper that comes into your home. Begin by opting out of unwanted mail. https://www.catalogchoice.org/ or https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action This is a win win situation because it reduces the clutter in your house as well as helping the environment. Both of these are free services so you have nothing to lose. Another option for those of you that have a smart phone, is a new app that I recently started using called Paper Karma https://www.paperkarma.com/. This is free and easy to use because you simply take a picture of the mail that you no longer want to receive. The people at Paper Karma contact the Mailer and remove your name from the distribution list.
-Online billing is another strategy to reduce paper in your home. Automatic bill pay is similar to online billing/banking and can eliminate any late fees Both of these banking/billing options not only reduce printing and mailing expenses but also save time, postage, and potential late fees.
-Access newspapers and magazines online. Many of the newspapers and magazines that you may subscribe to will be accessible on an e-reader or computer. Often times, the online subscription rate is less expensive than receiving the paper version. Also, if you notice that newspapers and magazines are piling up and going unread, stop the subscription and see if you really miss it.
-Lastly, We receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail each year. Recycle all unwanted paper that doesn’t need to be shredded including old phone books, newspapers and even cereal boxes. You’ll be keeping the paper out of the landfill and saving trees. About 500,000 garbage truck loads dump junk mail into landfills and incinerators every year.
Next week, I'll continue with eco-friendly organizing strategies in honor of Earth Day. I would love to hear what you and your family are doing to live a "greener" life. Comment below.
-The first step is reducing the amount of paper that comes into your home. Begin by opting out of unwanted mail. https://www.catalogchoice.org/ or https://www.dmachoice.org/dma/member/home.action This is a win win situation because it reduces the clutter in your house as well as helping the environment. Both of these are free services so you have nothing to lose. Another option for those of you that have a smart phone, is a new app that I recently started using called Paper Karma https://www.paperkarma.com/. This is free and easy to use because you simply take a picture of the mail that you no longer want to receive. The people at Paper Karma contact the Mailer and remove your name from the distribution list.
-Online billing is another strategy to reduce paper in your home. Automatic bill pay is similar to online billing/banking and can eliminate any late fees Both of these banking/billing options not only reduce printing and mailing expenses but also save time, postage, and potential late fees.
-Access newspapers and magazines online. Many of the newspapers and magazines that you may subscribe to will be accessible on an e-reader or computer. Often times, the online subscription rate is less expensive than receiving the paper version. Also, if you notice that newspapers and magazines are piling up and going unread, stop the subscription and see if you really miss it.
-Lastly, We receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail each year. Recycle all unwanted paper that doesn’t need to be shredded including old phone books, newspapers and even cereal boxes. You’ll be keeping the paper out of the landfill and saving trees. About 500,000 garbage truck loads dump junk mail into landfills and incinerators every year.
Next week, I'll continue with eco-friendly organizing strategies in honor of Earth Day. I would love to hear what you and your family are doing to live a "greener" life. Comment below.
RSS Feed
