Should City Council Kill Junk Mail?

• Finally! I would LOVE to Add my Name to a; "NO Junk Mail" List!! Ninety percent (90%) of my paper mail is Junk Mail of which goes directly from mailbox into the Recycle Bin. It's incredible waste of time, money, trees, and other resources!! People should have the Option to add their name to a No Junk Mail List! Go Seattle!

• ONLY IN SEATTLE WOULD YOU WANT ANOTHER RULE GOVERNING YOUR LIFE IN SOME WAY. MABE AFTER 2 WEEKS NOW THIS IS THE 1ST THING OUR NEW MAYOR SHOULD DO BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW

• the cost of recycling for the taxpayer is not going to go away and i agree, people do need to get a handle on junk mail they receive - by utilizing systems that are already in place. internet advertising doesn't fit for every business but definitely should be taken into consideration. but also consider the amount of energy and computer uses, the amount of energy a server uses, and so on and so on... reducing the amount of paper used is a given but perhaps what's more important is the implementation of a mandate on the type of paper used in these mailings: 100% post consumer recycled paper. The state of WA just passed a mandate for the use of 100% pcw for state agencies, why not incorporate this?

• Yay! We need to get a handle on the deluge of junk mail that is overwhelming our mailboxes. People deserve the right to determine what comes into our mailboxes. Trying to preserve jobs in archaic industries. With internet advertising, printed junk mail is a thing of the past.

• Broder's bit about "jobs" is also BS. Money not spent on advertising, or due to advertising, doesn't DISAPPEAR, it's merely spent somewhere else, or saved. Either way it still contributes to jobs. Somebody isn't thinking...

• "redundant" is probably a paid stooge. Typical tactics for an industry trying to defend the indefensible (cigarettes or climate change anyone?). We should have a registry with the power of law. Until we do, how about my method: blacklist any company that sends anything.

• It is a shame to learn that Seattle's City Council is out to squelch jobs when the national unemployment rate is already over 10%. Advertising mail is an economic stimulant, especially for small businesses that want to target local markets but can't afford broadcast or newspaper advertisements. Advertising mail is also recyclable and made from a renewable resource. Redundant is right: consumers already have significant control over their mailbox content: DMAChoice works, as does optoutprescreen.com for financial soliciations. And you can always call the mailer and get yourself removed from unwanted mailing lists. Matt Broder Pitney Bowes Inc.

• Sorry reduntant, but ForestEthics has you cornered on this one.

• 1. There is no such national database. There is DMAChoice, which is run by the DMA-- the very group responsible for sending us ever increasing volumes of junk mail. They are not bound to honor your requests, and there is no guarantee that if you request to get off of one junk mail list, that your name and information won't simply be sold to another company to send you junk mail. The national Do Not Call Registry, passed into law in 2003, would not be nearly as effective if the industry were allowed to run it themselves. Why should the fox be entrusted to guard the henhouse? 2. Junk mailers should absolutely use best practices-- paper that is 100% recycled and FSC certified, but that doesn't change the fact that (a) as with Do Not Call, citizens deserve the choice to opt-out of a practice they don't want; and (b) there's nothing better for the environment than reduction of paper use. You say "We do not need another bureaucratic entity wasting tax payer money", but who do you think pays the bill for the recycling and disposal of all this junk mail? The tax payer pays it, to the tune of about $400,000 a year in Seattle alone. Do Not Call made sense, and with the added environmental impacts of junk mail, Do Not Mail makes even more sense.

• In order to understand the resolution, you need to read it....the resolution asks the state of WA to implement a "do not mail" list that already exists in the form of a national database. what really needs to happen is the education of customers and constituents. There is a smarter way to go about this: 1. use the do not mail list 2. use paper that is 100 % recycled post consumer and FSC certified 3. educate yourself, your government, and your local businesses We do not need another bureaucratic entity wasting tax payer money.

• The most important thing Seattlites can do is <a href="http://www.seattle.gov/council/councilcontact.htm">call a Seattle City Council rep this morning and urge them to support this resolution</a>. As this post points out, the support of a whopping 89% of Americans has not emboldened our democratically elected leaders to actually represent the common sense majority. On environmental issues, we may have some tough choices ahead of us. This shouldn't be one of them.

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