• Editor’s Note: This article was written by Kane County Recycling Coordinator Jennifer Jarland. You can reach her at 630-208-3841 or recycle@countyofkane.org.

 Q: Hey, Jennifer Jarland! Loved your KCC article on how to stop junk mail for good! But I’d like to do even more. Got any more advice?

A: Heck, yes! Just like junk mail, there is always more! And because we spend so much time dealing with junk mail — sorting it from our real mail, reading some of it, recycling some of it, and trying to make it stop — I’m confident these tips will save you time in the long run.

Following the last recycling tip on junk mail, I got a response from one of our readers offering additional resources to employ on the campaign to “Stop Junk Mail for Good!” They have now been added to the Kane County Recycles Junk Mail page.

I love it when I learn new resources to add to the webpage and to share with you all to help reduce waste and in this case eliminate it altogether!

They include DMA Choice and the PaperKarma app for your phone. They are both excellent tools for stopping junk mail.

For stopping credit card offers, use Opt-out Pre-Screen. You can also call your personal credit card provider and ask them to put you on the “in house” list only so that your name is not sold or traded to other companies.

More of My Own Techniques

Another trick I have is that whenever I fill out a paper form of any kind with my street address or email address, I clearly write in the margin, “NO PAPER MAIL” or “NO EMAIL PLEASE”, or “DO NOT put me on any mailing lists!” And watch out for contests and offers, they are big collectors of information!

When I receive catalogs that I don’t want (which for me is all of them), I call the 1-800 number and ask to be removed from that and all other mailing lists that they may have. It takes two minutes max.

And those plastic bags full of advertisements that they drop-off at every door; I found a phone number on those and called to have our address removed from the drop-off list. Sometimes the delivery person changes and I have to call them back, but then they stop again.

I’ve gotten it to where I get no more than five or so pieces of junk mail a year now. That is stopping junk mail for good!

On behalf of the forests of our continent, I thank you for your efforts.

More recycling information can be found at www.countyofkane.org/recycling.

Questions? Contact Kane County Recycling Coordinator Jennifer Jarland at 630-208-3841, recycle@countyofkane.org

Read the ‘Recycling Tips’ Series!

Recycling Tips: How to Stop Junk Mail For Good!