If you’re like me, you groan every time you open your snail mailbox and find another catalog. “They’re cutting down trees for this trash,” I lament. It’s approaching an environmental nightmare, with around 20 billion catalogs reportedly mailed in the U.S. annually that destroy 15 million trees and consume enough energy to power 1.2 million homes a year. And with the holidays fast approaching, there are sure to be many more jammed into mail slots.

It all starts very innocently. I seriously try to buy as few new products as possible, but sometimes you just can’t find decent used items, like soaker hoses or shower curtains that aren’t already hosting their fair share of funky looking flora (or is it fauna?), and don’t get me started about used mattresses. Or, it’s the middle of winter and there are no yard sales and Craigslist and thrift shops don’t have what you need.

So I purchase something online or I manage to buy it locally, but the item is so large it needs to be delivered. But often the store that has what I need also has a slick marketing department. Need I say more? Now I’m receiving their catalog, plus catalogs from their parent company and the odd assortment from whatever else they sold my address to.

Sure, you can get on the phone and try to navigate their maze and maybe even talk to a live person after a substantial wait, pleading with them to remove you from their list. But it’s a pain. After we bought our new mattress we had to call the distributing company three times to stop receiving their annoying catalog full of unnecessary, energy-consuming gadgets.

I’ve just learned about a new service called Catalog Choice, sponsored by the California-based Ecology Center, which was developed to help decrease the amount of unwanted catalogs delivered in the U.S. The National Wildlife Federation and Natural Resources Defense Council (a tad ironic, since NRDC mails more than its share of paper, although they may have finally got the memo since it seems to have toned down recently) are endorsers. CatalogChoice.org is the groups’online service that allows consumers to opt out of receiving catalogs from specific retailers. I just signed up and it was easy – you provide minimal personal information and then type in the catalogs you want to go away. The website is free, allows you to opt out of more catalogs in the future and your personal info is completely private. They say it takes ten weeks to process removals, so sign up today before the holidays are upon us!

Catalog Choice will not wipe your name from all direct-mail rented lists. To do that, contact the Direct Marketing Association.

Other ideas: when you really must buy something online and give out your address, try typing in the “comments” section that you do not want them to use or sell your name/address. Sometimes it actually works. And when paying with a personal check, be sure to print boldly, next to your address, that you do not want them to use or sell your address.

If you think that catalogs aren’t so bad and enjoy paging through them, remember that they are all readily available online. Recycling them is good, but that takes a lot of energy too. Direct mail impacts the environment in many other ways besides the terrible waste of trees, which contributes to climate change. According to Catalog Choice, “Each year, catalog production uses about 3.6 million tons of paper, which consumes up to 15 million trees. Energy used to produce and dispose of all that paper is estimated at 119 trillion BTUs, and CO2 emissions are estimated at 11 million tons per year. Then there’s the wastewater — discharges are estimated at 56 billion gallons, the equivalent of 574,000 households’ annual discharge. The total solid waste is estimated at 4.1 million tons; the equivalent to the annual waste generated by almost 2 million households. A small reduction in the number of catalogs printed and mailed would be a huge break for the planet. Just a 10% reduction in the amount of paper used by the catalog industry would save up to two million trees.” Plus, it takes vast amounts of energy to distribute catalogs. We just don’t need them.

I’ve had a bee in my bonnet about junk mail since a trip to New Zealand a couple of years ago. In many ways, Kiwis are way ahead of us, and opting out of direct mail is among them. As we walked through neighborhoods there we were delighted to see many, if not most, residential mailboxes adorned with “No Circulars, Please” signs. Evidently these signs keep delivery people from delivering unwanted circulars but I’m not clear as to whether this includes postal deliveries. If anyone knows, I’d love to learn about New Zealand’s laws regarding junk mail. I’ve read that Montreal has an enforced and effective city bylaw that bans junk mail and I believe Canada Post is included as well. No doubt we’re far, far away from any legislation banning junk mail so I’m tempted to try a sign on our door.