Just how junk is junk mail?
22 May 2009 by Paul Northup
According to matadorchange.com the annual carbon footprint of US junk mail is equivalent to that of 480,000 cars. Now, we all knew that junk mail was annoying and a waste of paper. But did we realise it was quite that bad?
Most people in the US receive nearly 11 pieces of junk mail each week; that’s 560 pieces each a year. And this amounts to 4.5 million tons of junk mail every 12 months, of which almost half goes straight to the landfill – unopened and unread.
matadorchange.com estimates that 100 million trees are cut down each year just to produce junk mail. (And that’s not factoring in the carbon produced in felling and processing these trees or even in transporting the mail across the country.)
To read more about how matadorchange.com did its sums – and to see great pictures of the calculations – click here
Related Generous actions
Dump your junk mail
Opt to get your bills online
Flickr photosource – thanks StefZ
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