And I don’t mean the paint color.

Did you know that 19 BILLION catalogs are mailed out each year in the U.S.! I know some of you love to collect catalogs and put them in a pile to peruse during your “free-time”. But by becoming more selective in the catalogs you receive, you could help to cut down on that 19 billion number I mentioned! 

I have found two services, one free and one that charges $20.00 or $36.00, which will help you to gain control over your mailbox!  Wasn’t that one of your pesky New Year’s Resolutions? If not, it is not too late to add it to your list!

Look at www.greendimes.com  -- this is the service that charges the fee.  For the $20.00 fee Greendimes promises to:

Remove your name (even past tenants!) from junk mail lists;

Eliminate the catalogs you no longer want to receive;

Monthly monitoring of your account; and

Plant 10 trees with their non-profit tree-planting partners.

For $36.00 a year you get a few eco-fashionable extras: an eco shopping bag, two fluorescent light bulbs, a children’s Earth Day storybook and an American Apparel tee shirt. This looks like the luxury model for greening up your mail box – it evens comes with customer service!

If you would rather try the free service, check out www.catalogchoice.org.  Catalog Choice does not promise to plant trees on your behalf but, hey, what do you want for free? Catalog choice is sponsored by the Ecology Center. It is endorsed by the National Wildlife Federation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and funded by the Overbrook Foundation, the Merck Family Fund, and the Kendeda Fund.

In a matter of moments I was able to register with Catalog Choice and remove my name from a couple of catalogs that were clogging up my mailbox. So simple and yet so Green!