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So how do you reduce the mountain of “junk”
mail that fills your mailbox? Registering
with the Mail Preference Service of the
Direct Marketing Association (DMA) can help,
but it is no guarantee. DMA includes your
name in a database, but then it is voluntary
on the part of marketers as to whether or
not they consult it to remove “Do
Not Mail” names before doing their
mailings. Indeed, most pieces of mail you
receive are from firms who rented your name
from another firm, so they can usually only
comply with “take me off your list”
requests by using this service. Fortunately,
most large mailers do use the service routinely
because they know that there is nothing
to gain by mailing to people who don’t
want mail.
Another way to lighten your mailbox is to
go to OptOutPreScreen.com, where you can
get yourself off of lists that credit card
and insurance companies use to solicit your
business. It’s a centralized website
run by the country’s four major credit
bureaus, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and
TransUnion. These are the companies that
businesses check with before accepting your
credit card. They are also the largest sources
of names and addresses used by credit card
companies to trawl for new customers via
mass mailings. Luckily, the federal Fair
Credit Reporting Act requires that these
bureaus delete any person’s name and
address from rented lists if they so request.
In addition to registering with these services,
you should notify in writing all of the
companies you do business with that you
wish to be placed on their “do not
promote” or “in-house suppress”
file. Do it the very first time you do business
with them if you can, but it can be done
at any time. These should include your credit
card companies, magazines you receive, catalogs
you buy from, and any others that you do
business with by mail.
And you can keep such companies and organizations
honest by cleverly altering your name so
as to track where mail may be obtaining
it. If your name is John Smith, for example,
subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine as “John
R.S. Smith” (in conjunction with telling
them not to rent your name). Then if you
later receive mail from another company
or organization addressed to “John
R.S. Smith,” you'll know precisely
how they found you and you can take action
accordingly.
The website JunkBusters.com provides further
guidelines for reducing mail and other intrusive
marketing.
CONTACTS:
DMA’s Mail Preference Service, www.dmaconsumers.org/consumerassistance.html
OptOutPreScreen.com, www.optoutprescreen.com
JunkBusters.com, www.junkbusters.com
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Dear EarthTalk:
Is there a legal definition of “biodegradable”
that companies have to
meet in order to so-label their products?
—
Roger Schatz, Chicago, IL
There is no legal definition of “biodegradable,”
but the American Society for Testing and
Materials defines the term as “a degradation
caused by biological activity, especially
by enzymatic action, leading to a significant
change in the chemical structure of the
material.” The European Union deems
a material biodegradable if it will break
down into mostly water, carbon dioxide and
organic matter within six months.
But despite such precise sounding definitions,
the term “biodegradable” has
been applied to a wide range of products--even
those that might take centuries to decompose,
or those that break down into harmful environmental
toxins.
According to the Consumers Union (publisher
of Consumer Reports magazine), there are
no specific standards for the “biodegradable”
claim, and no official organization exists
to verify the use of the claim. The Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) in the U.S., however,
has issued some general guidelines on what
types of products qualify as legitimately
biodegradable, and has even sued companies
for unsubstantiated, misleading and/or deceptive
use of the term on product labels.
According to the FTC, only products that
contain materials that “break down
and decompose into elements found in nature
within a reasonably short amount of time
when they are exposed to air, moisture and
bacteria or other organisms” should
be marketed as “biodegradable.”
But the FTC acknowledges that even products
appropriately-labeled as biodegradable may
not break down easily if they are buried
under a landfill or are otherwise not exposed
to sunlight, air and moisture, the key agents
of biodegradation.
Of course, just because a product or ingredient
is biodegradable does not mean it is healthy
or safe for people or the environment. For
example, the toxic pesticide DDT biodegrades
to the compounds DDD and DDE, both of which
are more toxic and more dangerous than the
original DDT itself.
Consumers with questions about what qualifies
a given product to carry a biodegradable
label should contact the manufacturer directly.
The Consumers Union maintains that “if
a manufacturer has solid scientific evidence
demonstrating that the product will break
down and decompose into by-products found
in nature in a short period of time, then
claiming that it is ‘biodegradable’
is not deceptive.” If you encounter
a manufacturer that appears to be stretching
the definition, file a complaint with the
FTC.
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