Seattle Passes 'Do-Not-Mail' Resolution

Every year 100 million trees are logged to produce the 100 billion pieces of junk mail Americans receive. Junk mail’s production generates the carbon emissions of more than 9 million cars. U.S. junk mail accounts for 30 percent of all the mail delivered in the world, though 44 percent of it goes to landfills unopened.

In an interview given Sunday to Seattle NPR affiliate KPLU, Conlin discussed the cost benefits of the resolution: "From the city's perspective, it becomes garbage that we have to dispose of, and we have to pay for disposing of it. And even if it's recycled, recycling still isn't as good as not having it in the waste stream at all."

More than 110,000 Americans have signed ForestEthics’ petition at donotmail.org calling for the creation of a national Do Not Mail Registry.

ForestEthics, a nonprofit with staff in Canada and the United States, recognizes that individual people can be mobilized to create positive environmental change—and so can corporations. Armed with this unique philosophy, ForestEthics has secured the protection of more than sixty-five million acres of Endangered Forests. Visit forestethics.org and donotmail.org for more information.