junk mail

The big names cannot help but pump out more sustainable paper products on an almost weekly basis. From biology college textbooks gone green to carbon friendly greeting cards, we’ve rounded up the top ten green papier goods that caught our eye.

Over 100 BILLION pieces of junk mail are sent in the US each year.  Learn more about the environmental damage caused by junk mail - this blogger will also plant a tree for every link/comment to the article.

Junk Mail. Two words, a lot of impact. 100 million trees worth annually in the US, along with the resources used to print them, plus the resulting additional emissions generated carrying them around to their final destination, your mailbox. What to do, aside from recycle? Enter ProQuo

Why the United States Postal Service is supportive of junk mail?

More than 80 billion return envelopes are sent through the US mail each year in direct mailings such as credit-card statements, utility bills and other at an estimated cost of 1 billion pounds in greenhouse gas emissions and more than 71 trillion BTUs of energy. A company has come up with cost-effective, simple-to-use solution that eliminates the need for a separate reply mail envelope and helps to conserve precious resources.

Junk Mail Gems.com is now making recycled beads that feature the unique patterns inside of security envelopes. All beads are hand made by the artist from her own pile of junk mail, and are offered in lots of 10 to make your own jewelry, or already made into earrings and necklaces!

The New York Times recently reported on how a group of scientists out of North Carolina State University are looking to turn trees into new energy sources using a controversial genetic engineering process that reduces the amount of lignin, a chemical compound that interferes with efforts to turn the tree’s cellulose into biofuels like ethanol.

Junk Mail Gems has a new scratch paper box, made out of recycled junk mail, designed to help you recycle your own printer paper! From JunkMailGems.com: "Ever print an email or something off a website, and get that wasted last page that has like 2 words on it? Recycle your own letter sized paper with this cool storage box! This box is designed to hold scratch paper the size of a letter sized sheet (8.5" x 11") cut into fourths. Cut up your printer mistakes, old mapquest routes, etc and use the backs for notes, phone messages, & shopping lists!"

Did you know that over 8 million tons of trees are used each year to make catalogs? This website lets you specify what catalogs you no longer wish to receive in the mail. You win, and the trees win too!

Purveyors of credit card offers, home equity loans and "urgent" envelopes beware.