Please, no flyers!
Cheryl from Regina, SK writes:
My children deliver paper in our neighbourhood – or should I say they did deliver. They are quitting because of the incredible amount of waste produced by paper routes – especially flyers. Is there a way to make our voice heard on this issue? Who do we contact? We do not get the paper for this very reason and have posted a "no flyers" sign on our mailbox.
Lindsay responds:
Funny you should write in about paper consumption. We just released our monthly newsletter about how being a conscious paper consumer can help Boreal Birds! You can start by 1) sign up for David Suzuki’s Nature Challenge and 2) sign the Boreal songbird petition.
You’ve instilled an excellent lesson here by having your kids re-evaluate their well-intentioned job. Simple things anyone can do is sign up for the Red Dot Campaign . This will allow you to take your name off unaddressed mail lists, like flyers. Within the newsletter link above, click on "Some things you can do right now." It’s one of the first things I did when we bought our home – get yourself off all the wasteful junk mail lists!
You’ve highlighted your frustration with newsprint. However, newsprint often makes its way to the recycling depot; it’s from recycled sources and not bleached – but flyers? Not so much. You could write to the companies that send you colorful flyers and ask that they print on 100% post-consumer waste paper with vegetable dyed inks.
See our e-newsletter above to learn about types of paper. Better yet, your family can do a total overhaul of your home’s paper use (if you haven’t already) by taking a look at the toilet paper, paper towel, tissue, and packaging that you buy. Oh yes, and change to paperless, tree-free billing too!
Tags: Boreal Songbirds, David Suzuki's Nature Challenge, fliers, junk mail, Lindsay, newspaper route, recycling, vegetable dye
November 19th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I’m with you Cheryl. In a very weak moment last year, I ordered one nationally delivered magazine who must make most of their money by coming out with an ongoing draw for millions of dollars once a year. They send out certificates making it sound like you are in the finalist category continually-I think you know the one-it is about 4-1/2 x 7″ in size, contains humorous quips, short stories and news magazine items. I ordered only because many years ago I enjoyed their story format-short but enjoyable-just about the amount of time I had during a day to dedicate to ’stories’. I most unfortunately forgot about the disgusting amount of waste theycreate as one independent company. It’s obscene actually. There is so much waste that their annual renewal bill got lost in it all (which I am sure is designed to occur).
I’m so incensed that I will be writing the company president to not only complain about their tactics but to actually ridicule them for the vast amount of waste they create on an annual basis. And it is full of plastics, glossy coloured print, and metallic emblems etc. My only regret is that I didn’t save every piece of garbage sent out during the course of the year and multiply by their readership….I can only imagine the volume of waste generated by one cause….and that doesn’t cover the fuel costs for delivery to all of those locations.
I think as individuals, we must make it our mandate to stand up and speak out again such blatant environmental injuries. I for one will.
November 25th, 2008 at 5:33 am
This blog Is very informative , I am really pleased to post my comment on this blog . It helped me with ocean of knowledge so I really belive you will do much better in the future . Good job web master .