Posted by: Arthur Fox

Campaign: How can we increase the reuse of products, reduce production, and make a profitable business out of it?

Carbon dioxide reducing, oxygen creating trees are being killed to create many tons of junk mail and bills that wind up in the garbage the day it is opened and that eventually winds up in land fills. The conversion of trees into paper and then mail also consumes energy and creates pollutants. The mail is then delivered by energy inefficient, fossil fuel consuming, carbon spewing trucks. In addition, the current US Postal Service Business Model is losing hundreds of millions of dollars each year. It would not surprise me if the postal business models in other countries are also costly. I propose that every individual/household is assigned email postal boxes that junk mail and bills (and possibly the nowadays rare instance of personal mail) would be delivered to for a fee. Acceptance of delivery in this manner would be mandatory by the senders and individuals/households unless an individual/household stipulates that he/she/they cannot or does not have access to a computer to receive the emails. If that is the case, the postal service could provide alternative arrangements including possible providing a PO Box or delivery of the mail once or twice a week, particularly to those with disabilities. This idea would reduce the killing of environmentally important trees, and substantially reduce all the climate impacts of mail production while also substantially reducing the costs of postal services. It would also substantially reduce business marketing program costs.