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NGOs Need to Stop Sending Me Junk Mail

By voltagegate on June 8, 2007.

This means you, Defenders of Wildlife!

I have been a member of the World Conservation Union and the National Wildlife Federation for years now, and I've grown used to receiving quarterly mags, posters and gift wrap (just in time for Xmas - phew). But in the past couple of years, on a daily basis, I get loads of junk from other NGOs looking for new members - stickers, return address labels, postcards, envelopes, keychains, offers for backpacks, totes, stuffed animals, etc.

Most of these organizations point out how much we contribute to global warming through transportation. Perhaps they should take their own advice. It takes a hell of a lot of resources to get that packet of junk from their offices to my home just for it to be thrown into a recycling bin.

Why bother? If you need more money, support your own cause. Contact me electronically.

Tags
conservation

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Ahhh! This is one of my pet peeves. I send money to Oxfam once or twice a year (they send me a membership card in return). It's my charity of choice. But they must have sold my name and address to other NGOs because I am forever getting appeals from aid organizations and liberal domestic cause orgs. Yeah, I can use some address labels, but not near as many as these NGOs send me. And I NEVER give them money. Save your money and save a tree: stop mailing me.

I wish NGO's had more responsible, configurable contact policies. I donate $100 and they'll spend $200 trying to get more. Drives me nuts.

Businesses too. Information Week has been threatening to cancel the dead-tree subscription for years now, and I keep telling them to cancel it - I read their stuff online!

Darn, you beat me to it! I receive so many address labels and other junk from the WWF, Defenders of Wildlife, NWF, the AMNH, the Ocean Conservancy, and other groups that I can't possibly use them all even if I mailed a letter every day. What I hate most is when they send some post cards of gift wrap and then say "Did you get those gift cards we sent? You should give us some money for that free gift." What's even worse is that none of the paper they use is recycled either! Hell, I donated 20 bucks once and I got a backpack from the NWF, which was cool because I needed one. It was made of this artifical material that couldn't handle stress, however, and so it ripped wide open after about 2 weeks. Don't ask me for money if my donations are only going to go to more junk mail and low-quality products.