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Earth911 is honoring the 52 years of Earth Day with 52 Actions for the Earth. Each week by means of Earth Day 2023, we are going to share an motion you possibly can take to save lots of assets, scale back waste, and make your individual life extra sustainable. Paper is likely one of the best supplies to recycle, nevertheless it nonetheless makes up the biggest element of Americans’ rubbish. A full 25% of municipal strong waste in America is paper and paperboard (additionally known as “cardboard”). Eliminating paper waste fully would require a Herculean effort for most individuals, however identical to going plastic-free, you possibly can lower down your paper waste by chopping out paper one class at a time. This week, you possibly can invest in the earth by eliminating bank card presents.
Action: Cut Credit Card Offers
Junk Mail
We throw away about 67 million tons of paper and paperboard annually and recycle roughly 46 million tons. Reusing paper by printing on either side is sweet. Recycling paper and even upcycling it into fancy handmade stationery is healthier. But better of all is cutting down paper waste by decreasing how a lot paper we undergo, particularly if it additionally makes our lives easier. Reader’s Digest reports that sorting unsolicited mail might take as much as eight months of your life. Junk mail (additionally euphemistically known as direct or bulk mail) makes use of greater than 100 million bushes nationwide annually.
Credit Cards
Americans owe a staggering $925 billion in bank card debt. Much of that spending was incurred on account of consumer tradition that encourages folks to purchase greater than they want on impulse after which to switch purchases regularly because of planned obsolescence of things like electronics and fast fashion. These purchases add as much as about a quarter of the common family’s carbon footprint. Not solely do bank cards encourage debt and overconsumption, however they’re nonrecyclable plastic waste that’s laborious to dispose. Which all goes to say, most of us don’t really want all these bank card presents we get within the mail.
Cutting Credit Card Offers
Unfortunately, you possibly can’t simply eliminate all unsolicited mail in a single step. You can scale back your mail burden by signing up for electronic billing and canceling catalogs, however eliminating bank card presents takes a little bit of effort. OptOutPrescreen is the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry web site to just accept and course of requests from customers to opt-in or opt-out of credit score and insurance coverage presents. Submitting their on-line opt-out kind will bar the 4 shopper credit score reporting firms from sharing your tackle with bank card and insurance coverage firms both completely or for a interval of 5 years. (If you select everlasting exemption, you’ll have to print and mail your opt-out kind.)
To choose out by cellphone, name 888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688). You’ll be requested to supply your identify and tackle to cease receiving bank card presents. You’ll even be requested to your social safety quantity and date of delivery. This is data the buyer credit score reporting firms have already got and is used to verify they’re opting out the proper particular person.
