A staggering 19 billion catalogs are mailed in the United States every year. Companies like Victoria's Secret, L.L. Bean, and Pottery Barn bombard our mailboxes with big, fat catalogs, no matter what season, although one can typically expect a deluge around the holidays. The average household receives about 114 catalogs per year. Manufacturers send these catalogs with the notion that somewhere between just 1.5 to 2 percent of us will actually make a purchase. As a consumer myself, I don't begrudge anyone for making a purchase from a catalog, but as a lifelong conservationist, I do find the unnecessary waste hard to digest.
The consequences of these catalogs being produced are monstrous. Using the Paper Calculator, created by Environmental Defense, the natural resource use is equivalent to:
- Fifty-three million trees, or about 3.6 million tons of paper
Catalog companies aren't solely responsible for this environmental mess. As consumers, we can effect change by not buying from companies that mail too much. But here's the rub. While a few enlightened catalog companies make it relatively easy to remove yourself from catalog mailing lists, most of them make it frustratingly difficult. I've found that I can quickly buy an item over the phone, but finding the number and getting a real person to remove me from a mailing list can be an unbelievably time consuming ordeal.
Every time I make a purchase from a catalog company, my name and address is likely sold or rented to other merchandisers (without my permission), and the onslaught of catalogs continue to arrive in the mail. The system is clearly broken because, like so many people, I go from my mailbox directly to recycling bin.
Change is in the air, however. Paper prices and postage rates are going up, and enlightened catalogs companies are investing more in using the Internet as the primary source of sales. In addition, there are now websites where you can go and remove your name from receiving unwanted catalogs. Several companies will charge you for this service, but the Catalog Choice Task Force, a group I am involved with, will do it for free.
The Catalog Choice Task Force is a coalition of well-respected conservation organizations that have been researching this issue over the past two years. The Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Wildlife Federation and the Ecology Center are the main organizers. They have even taken this work a step further and will soon come out with a set of best environmental practices for catalog companies.
In a world of clutter, Catalog Choice is one easy way to help cut the waste.