Everyone receives extra catalogs, bills, and promotional pamphlets in the mail that they did not even know they were signed up for. Well, the average adult receives 41 pounds of junk mail per year! The first that thing that comes to my mind is paper, or the waste of trees on magazines that we don't even want let alone need. Because the amount of junk mail is so high, we would be able to save over 100 million trees if everyone were to cancel these subscriptions and save paper. How do we know what subscriptions are junk? Well, websites are provided, an example being 41pounds.org, that actually contact the companies to prevent the mailing of the letters and pamphlets that you do not want to receive. The more trees we preserve, the more carbon dioxide is absorbed and not remaining in the atmosphere.
Now, as we all know, the mail must be sent and delivered through transportation. Junk mail is responsible for producing more carbon dioxide than 9 million cars, do to required transportation to bring it to its undesired destination. This number would also be greatly reduced if we  all took the time to do a simple to task to work towards a cleaner environment and a brighter future. So the next time you throw out the unwanted junk mail, think about how much its arrival has immensely affected the production of carbon dioxide and how you can take a step towards improving it.
http://www.41pounds.org/

Junk mail is a real problem that is frequently overlooked. At least for myself, personally, I don't ever consider the impact junk mail has on the environment. It is almost viewed as a pest, just an annoyance you ignore. The amount of junk mail people  receive a year is shocking. It can be scary to think about how many resources are being using to produce and transport something that people don't even give the time of day to.  I was very surprised that junk mail's carbon output is equivalent to 9 million cars. I expected the emission to be high from all of the transportation, though that it an outrageous number. It is great that there are websites, such as the one you mentioned, that can reduce the amount of junk mail a person receives. Junk mail is a real problem, and I'm glad you are bringing attention to it.

Hi Meghan,
This is an interesting post! Since I am a senior this year, I am continuously receiving college brochures and and letters. Although I always recycle my mail, I never took into account how much paper is being wasted by organizations still sending paper mail. Personally, I always give my email to organizations I receive subscriptions from, rather than my email. I do this for convenience, as I check my email more, but with this revelation about junk mail's impact on our carbon footprint, I think it is important to spread awareness about this issue. Most households in the US receive 6 pieces of junk mail per day, and most of this junk mail produces 1 billion pounds of landfill per year, according to Mike Vlope, a blogger on Hotspot Blogs. This is extremely shocking, and some ways we could remedy this issue is to bring awareness and insist that companies send subscriptions through email.
http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307 … nment.aspx

Hi Annika,
Because I was focusing so much on trying to spread the word on how much junk mail can really hurt the environment, I completely forgot to offer some ways to improve the situation. Your Point about email is a great starting point. The recipients can either shift to receiving their catalogs electronically or they can completely cut it off all together. Thank you so much for your input.