James Hrynyshyn is a freelance science journalist based in western North Carolina, where he tries to put degrees in marine biology and journalism to good use.
I've just come across a wonderful concept thanks to Grist. I have no idea if it will work, but it seems worth trying: Run by the Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, and the Ecology Center, Catalog Choice can, they claim, "put a stop to all those unwanted catalogs clogging your mailbox."
Since its debut last week, some 20,000 people have signed up for the service, already halting over 50,000 unwanted catalogs. That's a small fraction of the 19 billion catalogs mailed in the U.S. each year (made out of 53 million trees), but it's a start. Did we mention it's free?You register your names and addresses and select from a lengthy list of catalogs that, in our case, seem to arrive on a daily basis, trying to sell us stuff we a) don't need; b) can't afford; and c) won't be caught dead showing off.
I figure if the good people behind the NRDC and NWF are behind it, it's worth giving them my email address.
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