Monday, July 14, 2008

In our defense

For those of you who haven't read the DMA's Green 15 Toolkit, you really should. There are some great statistics about direct mail and its impact on the environment and our economy:

1) 1/3 of the US Postal Service's annual revenue depends on advertising mail.

2) Nonprofit organizations, including those serving environmental causes, used the mail to help raise nearly $200 billion in individual contributions in 2005. Direct mail also helps nonprofits recruit volunteers and educate consumers about important social issues.

3) Direct mail accounts for only 2.4% (in weight) of the total municipal solid waste generated in the US annually (according to the EPA). That figure is likely to decline as greater strides are made in paper recycling.

4) By replacing just two shopping trips to the mall each year with shopping by catalogs or direct mail, the DMA estimates that Americans could:

- Reduce the amount we drive by 3.3 billion miles
- Reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 3 billion pounds
- Save more than $490 million on gas costs

5) More than 80% of US paper makers use recovered fiber to manufacture new paper products, according to the American Forest & Paper Association.

6) We actually have just as much forest land in this country today as we did 50, or even 100, years ago. In fact, the "forest inventory" in the US has grown by 39% since 1952, according to the US Forest Service.

7) The forest products industry actually plants more trees each year than it harvests. Annual net growth of US forests is 36% higher than the volume of annual tree removals (Society of American Foresters).

8) The vast majority of paper produced in America today comes from trees that are grown as managed crops for that specific purpose.

We've said it time and again, we need to bring our defense to the public eye. Many of us are taking part in the Recycle Please initiative, including RMI, but what we need to do is educate the general public about statistics like these.

Forest Ethics has an on-going petition for the Do Not Mail legislation that, according to The New York Post, has acquired over 25,000 people including Leonardo DiCapprio, Alicia Silverstone and Daryl Hannah. Signers have the option of leaving their comments about junk mail that you can read on the website. I would suggest that the DMA use this as a tool to see how consumers feel and address their concerns.

And in my opinion, while the economy is a hot button topic, now would be a great time to illustrate what the repercussions would be if the direct mail industry ceased to exist.

Thanks to Justine for passing along The New York Post article.

Labels: Do Not Mail

posted by becky terhaar at 11:21 AM   0 comments

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