America Recycles Day

November 15 was America Recycles Day. A day that is dedicated to encouraging Americans (though from what I can tell most of the time people say Americans they mean only USA) to recycle and to buy recycled products. I regularly recycle via curbside recycling and Abitibi paper boxes. On this day I dropped off at the zoo, they were having a recycling event in which they took various recyclables that curbside recycling does not, a box of mostly cdrs; though there were some dvdrs, aol discs, and 3.5 floppy disks as well. I used to trade anime fansubs via the mail until high speed internet and dvdrs became common.

I had traded cdrs for several years (mostly through the now mostly dead Noated forum though did so on a few other now completely gone sites) and had amassed a rather large number of cdrs. Over time I had watched them and no longer wanted the particular series, acquired the actual dvds, got better quality versions, received duplicates, put them on dvdrs to save room, poor quality cdrs that had become damaged, etc. as well as various other cds such as AOL, Netzero, old Linux distros, game sample discs, etc. I felt it was a waste to toss them out so I instead would toss them into a big box saying to myself that I am going to recycle them. I kept putting it off until I saw a flier advertising national recycling day and decided to drop them off (I first emailed the company that was doing the computer recycling to see if they took cdrs). I had looked into recycling them in the past but most places I saw that would recycle them charged or you had to ship them to the company which considering the number and weight of discs I had would have been costly.

Prior to recycling the discs I browsed a few of the discs to see if I was tossing anything I did not want to. I only looked at a few but did find some interesting things (though usually not the content). Things like how poor the quality of some of them were but at the time it had not bothered me (I still will watch things with poor video quality on occasion like youtube videos) and how my computer could no longer play some of them. For example, a few videos I looked at had Intel/Ligos Indeo Interactive 4.0 codec which is no longer supported and does not play on Vista (and is difficult to get to play on any video players including players that play most things like VLC because the 5.0 codec does not play 4.0, or doesn't do so well, and the codec is copyrighted and no longer supported by the company that made it). At the time though the codec was pretty popular with Microsoft (Btw I can get them to play by converting them to a different format but did not bother). I was also surprised about how many AOL discs were in that box there had to be at least 50 and also a few AOL 3.5 floppy's. I had a lot of internet discs from other companies like Netzero, Juno, People PC, MSN, etc. How many discs did those companies mail out?

International day of climate change and some effects of climate change

I recently received an email from 350.org/brighter planet saying that today, October 15, is Blog Action Day. They asked that I tell my readers that October 24 is an International Day of Climate Action and to ask that you organize an action, or attend an action in your area (there are two relatively near to me). These events are to spread the bit of info that scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity and we are already over it and need to do take steps to lower it to below 350 ppm. I myself while believing people should do things to lower their effects on the environment am probably not going to go to one of the organized events.

There are many possible effects from climate change, who you ask will give you different answers as to what those changes are. Some people do not even believe that it is occurring. There is enough evidence and scientists that believe in it that I have no reason to doubt them. In that vein I read a summary of a report made by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research; Analyses of the effects of global change on human health and welfare and human systems. What this report boils down to is something that is obvious to just about anyone who puts a few seconds thought into it; namely that the poor, elderly, sick, and very young will suffer the most from climate change (often times called global warming). Those are the people who suffer the most from basically everything, so it should be absolutely no surprise that they would suffer the most.

Many things said in the report have been stated in many other federal and international reports on the ill effects of climate change. Things like: Global warming is caused by greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels. At current emission levels, global temperatures are likely to rise by about 2 degrees by midcentury and about 7.5 degrees by the end of the century, according to an international panel of scientists.

It states that every region of the country will be hit by worse health from heat waves and drought. That all but a handful of states would have worse air quality and flooding. It predicts an increase in diseases spread by tainted food, bad water and bugs. Many of those very same effects can be seen from other causes besides climate change as well.

Physics for Future Presidents

Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines by Richard A. Muller is a pretty good book that tells some of the basic things on physics a president (really everyone) should know. It is not very technical and doesn’t go into immense detail (and simplifies/rounds) but does what it is supposed to do, namely give the reader some basic physics knowledge; explaining why things are or aren’t done in various ways. I was familiar with this book’s author prior to reading the book, since I watch a lot of documentaries and his name has come up in several of them.

The book covers five topics; terrorism, energy, nukes, space, and global warming. Personally I found the chapter on space to be the most interesting but I doubt most people would. While the book is on physics it touches a few other subjects as well like economics (bases energy choices partial on price - things like coal being the cheapest) and politics (things like propaganda and policy). I agree with the author of the book on many things, but not everything (I'm not a scientist and it is mostly the non-science parts I don't agree with). The author claims to be giving a purely scientific view point, but doesn't use neutral terms often making it very clear what his view point is (in other words he doesn't just give the facts).

The chapter on terrorism, I pretty much agree with everything. Worry about terrorist's making or acquiring nuclear weapons is overrated. The fear of suitcase nukes also overrated since conventional bombs, though larger, could cause equivalent or even greater damage. The Davey Crockett (portable nuclear weapon) if blown up in central park would not result in much damage beyond central park. That dirty bombs, conventional bombs with radioactive material added, are not as dangerous as they are often portrayed to be since the radioactive material is most dangerous to the person who makes the bomb. Once it blows up it would spread out the radioactive material making it less dangerous, possibly even less dangerous than the area's natural radioactivity. I definitely agree with him that what is most dangerous for terrorists to use would be biological attacks.

The chapter on nukes was interesting. The author’s preferred method of next generation nuclear energy production is PBR (pebble bed reactor). I don’t really have a problem with nuclear power; it is safer, healthier, and cheaper than several of the alternatives (like coal). PBR might be safer but what it is fueled by is likely to go up in price so a breeder reactor (a type of reactor that produces more fissile material than it consumes) might be more practical in the long run. The author feels that the nuclear waste problem isn't really a problem, many people probably don't agree. Personally I'm starting to wonder if someone will find (or make) something that eats the toxic waste. I know this is unlikely since it is highly radioactive (everything is a little bit radioactive), but animals have been found that eat strange things, like worms that eat heavy metal toxic waste.

The book advocates 'clean coal' because of its sequestering of carbon dioxide. As I have mentioned before, I do not like the term clean coal, but I agree that sequestering the carbon dioxide is a good idea. If you are using the coal it is better to sequester the carbon dioxide than to release it into the atmosphere. Though using alternatives is still better and there are other problems with coal besides it releasing carbon dioxide that I dislike.

Geothermal not considered a good alternative for energy, but only mentions it as a power source. It is good in some locations for power generating but it is even better when used as a heating/cooling system (Geothermal heat pump), which would reduce energy used for heating/cooling.

Mentions replacing lights with fluorescent lights to conserve power, does not mention that many of them contain mercury and makes only passing mention to LED's. There are other alternatives like OLED (organic light emitting devices) which use even less power than LEDs.

Mentions that corn is one of the worst bio-fuels, which is something I have stated before. The book advocates the use of faster growing grasses that grow more efficiently if bio-fuels are used, which is a good idea, capitalize on land usage and power supply. There are many problems with using farmland to grow fuel for cars since it does do things like raise the price of crops, increase the cutting of trees, leads to more hungry people, etc.

The book does not see electric cars as being a viable alternative since he thinks it will end up costing more since battery life is insufficient. I don't agree with this. While it is true that batteries do not have as much energy storage as gasoline, battery technology is improving at a faster rate than internal combustion engines. Found this part to be misleading since it mentions that gasoline has 100x greater energy content than rechargeable batteries but doesn't mention that gasoline engines are not very efficient using only around 20% of energy potential (they could be made much more efficiently, this is obvious if you look up a particular car model from 1993 and then 2005 and find that the newer one gets less miles per gallon, has less towing power, and the same horse power). He calculates price by having to replace batteries, which prices are going down and are improving, but does not factor other advantages to electric cars - servicing costs being less (things like less movable parts which means the parts will last longer/less wear and tear, that cars will not need oil changes), that electric motors are cheaper and easier to make than conventional engines, that they are environmentally more friendly than existing cars, that it is easier to reduce emissions at the power generating plant than it is to do so for every car, etc.

The best policy for energy according to the book is conservation, which is something I agree with.

Carbon Offsets

Carbon offsetting is giving money to offset the amount of carbon you or an organization uses. People can calculate how much carbon is released into the atmosphere because of their actions at many sites like The Nature Conservatory or the Environmental Protection Agency. The money spent on carbon offsets is used on various endeavors that would reduce the amount of carbon released into the environment. Depending on the program this could be done in many ways. Putting money in renewable energy sources which include wind power, solar power, hydroelectric power, geothermal power, methane collection, and biofuels. Some of these types of offsets are used to reduce the cost differential between renewable and conventional energy production, increasing the commercial viability of a choice to use renewable energy sources. Other offsets are designed to make existing energy sources more efficient and reduce their pollution or properly dispose of the waste chemicals created. Still other types focus on land and forestry usage. Many of the practices done have secondary benefits, things like more room for wild animals, decreased energy usage, reduced energy prices, more efficient products, etc.

There are some negatives of course. Writing a check is not an excuse to not reduce your own environmental impact but some people see it as one. Some of the alternatives have negative side effects. Bio-fuel, for example, is sometimes not a good alternative to gasoline. Biofuels made from corn cause the prices of corn to go up - which has the side effect of increasing the price of foods containing corn and meat from animals that were commonly fed corn. The corn based biofuels used in the USA are made with the parts of the plant that are edible by humans and animals which means that it is not available to those humans/animals. There are plants that are more efficient than corn to use as well, some other types of grass grow much faster and taller (corn is in the grass family).

There are various ways to reduce carbon usage and there are sites online which give carbon credits for free like Care 2 which has click to donate.

Brighter Planet is currently running a campaign that will donate 136 pounds of offsets (which it estimates is the equivalent of one day's worth of CO2 emissions). I have placed on this page in the upper right corner a badge which links to this campaign. The first 25 people to click the link and sign up will offset 136 pounds of carbon each.

More info can be found on various websites like these:
Climate Crisis - the site for Al Gores movie An Inconvenient Truth.
Take Part - a site with information on things people can do
Pollute Less - another site with information about reducing carbon impact.

Usage of the word lost and 'clean' coal.

I seriously dislike statements that use the word lost or lose when they aren't applicable. For example, there is a ballot issue for the creation of a casino in my state, people who are pushing the issue are airing commercials that state that X-number of jobs would be lost if the issue doesn't pass. This is a lie, that is used fairly often. It could be argued that if this passes X-number of jobs will be created but it is impossible for those jobs to be lost since they do not exist yet. An opportunity for the creation of the jobs can be lost, but the jobs themselves can not be lost since they do not exist. This is not the only issue or way that lose and lost are used that annoy me or the only issue it is used this way on. Other issues, clean coal commercials, also claim that jobs will be lost if power plants using 'clean' coal aren't created. Not only do those jobs not exist at this time, hence can not be lost, since a demand for energy will still exist power generating plants will still be created, creating jobs. Though if coal powered plants are not created a different power source would be used like geothermal, solar, wind, water, and hydrogen - which are renewable. Though no power source is perfect, all have their advantages and disadvantages.

I also do not like the term clean coal because clean coal does not exist. When they say clean coal they are saying process's are used so that coal powered plants emit less environmentally harmful pollutants and more energy is produced from the same amount of coal (Carbon dioxide is stored under ground instead of released into the atmosphere, is one way the polluting is reduced). The plants are more environmentally friendly than existing coal plants but are far from clean. Strip mining, mountaintop removal, and underground coal mining (some means of harvesting coal) will still be amongst the dirtiest and most destructive ways of making energy and the so called clean power plants will still release harmful pollutants into the air, just a smaller number of them. Coal miners will continue getting lung cancer, dying via accidents, forests will still be stripped for coal, explosives will still blast poisons into the air, waterways will still have dangerous pollutants enter them from the process of getting the coal, etc., and coal, like oil, is also a fossil fuel with a limited supply and takes millions of years to form (though it is the most abundant fossil fuel available in the USA at this time). There are laws that try to limit the damage done, Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 is one, but pollution, health problems, and environmental problems will still be caused by 'clean' coal plants.

My opinion on 'clean' coal is that existing plants that use coal should take as many steps to reduce their environmental and health impact as possible but new plants should not be created that uses coal, rather cleaner and renewable power sources should be used. I do not suggest using anyone power source everywhere, multiple power sources should be used and which one is best for a given area might not be the best for a different area.

Again since this is at least in part a blog on Japan, here is some info on Japan and coal: Coal powered plants account for around 23% of Japan's energy consumption. Japan imports the majority of it's coal instead of mining it. The reason for this is it is cheaper to import than to mine locally. The amount Japan imports is roughly one quarter of all coal traded worldwide, according to statistics from the government and the International Energy Agency. Japan is very into 'clean' coal technology, leading the world in it's use and implementation. Japan is often trying out new technologies to increase coals efficiency, more so than most countries. Japan teaches other Asian countries how to use coal more efficiently and reduce pollution caused by it. Japan is also actively increasing the use of renewable power and attempting to reduce consumption of power. While this does reduce pollutants the main purpose of these actions are to cut costs and be more self reliant i.e. purchase less coal. The teaching other countries is not entirely from altruism, it's an attempt to lower the coal usage by those countries . The below quote on teaching other countries about coal usage, is from Japan Times.

Every year, Japan invites about 60 engineers and managers from the coal industry of seven Asian nations -- China, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and India -- to instruct them in the use of "clean coal technology," or CCT, which aims to improve the mineral's efficiency while reducing carbon dioxide emissions and pollution.

Local Recycling

My neighborhood has curb side recycling. Sadly it does not appear to be working. I go down my street and only around 1 in 20 houses (if that) will have put anything out for recycling. I think part of the reason is because my neighborhood has blue bag recycling and it is difficult to find blue plastic bags. The city claims they are easy to find, but they are not of the stores I shop at only one store sells them. That store sells them for twice the price of regular garbage bags.

I heard that blue bag recycling has failed in other cities like Chicago because the same truck would pick the blue bags up as the garbage. My city has a separate truck come later in the day so I don't think the reason is people thinking the bags will just end up in the dump or that the bags would break which was reasons sited for others cities to fail. I don't think it is lack of knowledge the city does send out fliers a few times a year and has been running commercials on television asking people to recycle (not to mention most recyclable things say please recycle right on them). It could be because curbside pickup is only for type 1 and 2 plastics, glass, metal containers, and newspapers. For 3,4,5,6, and 7 type plastics you have to take it to the actual recycling center. For loose paper you can take it to Abitibi paper recycling boxes which have become fairly common in this area. To recycle phone books it has to be the correct part of the year and at a designated drop off area.

While they can do a number of things to get people to recycle and make it easier for people to recycle. It probably won't matter much unless they start giving some type of incentive to people. For instance a deposit on glass or plastic bottles like some states do (mine does not). Another method I heard which worked for other cities raising the recycling amount from around 10% to %90 percent. Was/is to offer credit for the recycled stuff by weight. I heard some places have started weighing the recyclable trash and offering points that are redeemable in local stores.

Evan Almighty

I had put off watching this movie for a long time because Bruce Almighty was a pretty bad movie. So I did not expect much from this movie. Bruce Almighty really did suck. First off why did that guy get chosen to be taught a lesson in that way, there are a lot of people who have much better reasons to hate the way the world works. What the main character did with the power which had no restrictions other than can't mess with free will was stupid. Given damn near unlimited power and he he uses it to give his girlfriend bigger breasts and make the dog pee in the toilet. There are so many things that he could have/should have done with that kind of power. I could continue listing things I hated about that movie but I digress, I intended to write Evan Almighty not Bruce Almighty.

Retelling of the Noah story in the bible. Evan Baxter the newsman from Bruce Almighty that was the rival of that movies main character is elected to Congress. He has a new house and starting a new life when God shows up and tells him to build an arc. Animals start showing up in pairs. People think he is crazy.

Evan Almighty was, in my opinion, a pretty good movie. Part of this is because I did not expect much from it and was actually expecting it to be really bad since Bruce Almighty was bad. I'd probably rate it worse if I was looking at it as a stand alone instead of comparing it to Bruce Almighty. Truthfully the movie was fairly predictable, had some factual errors (like congress parking and the guy being a newscaster while running for office since he would have to quite before running), and wasn't all that funny. I still liked it though. I particularly liked the animals helping build the arc. It was done in such away that I could believe animals could/would help in the manner they did.

Liked that the movie had a green message and actually tried to be green. Some movies or people will say one thing but do another. I like they did what they preached. It is very good that they used bikes instead of cars (also good that they gave bikes to the workers), that they planted 2000 trees to counter their effects on the environment, and possibly best of all that they donated the wood used in the movie (they had actually built an arc) to habitat for humanity to build houses. I hope that more movies will reuse or salvage the material used instead of tossing it in a land fill somewhere.

On the dvd there were some extra's. Including green tips and a game. The green tips are pretty good, though I do wonder how many coffee shops will allow you to bring your own reusable cups? It makes sense to me since less cups would be manufactured, less environmental impact, and cheaper for the coffee shop since they wouldn't have to pay for the cups. That said though some places just won't allow it. Corporate policy or managers decision being that only cups provided are allowed to be used.

The animal round up game was alright and I was happy to have gotten every single question correct (Yay, I know my animal trivia - of course had it been something like sports trivia I wouldn't have gotten them right). I did notice one problem with the trivia questions. The point was to match up the pairs of animals to go on the arc and it had you match up a male lion with a male lion instead of a female lion.

I don't generally think about the amount of work taken to make a movie, or the time it takes, or how much money is spent on the movie but in this case, I kept thinking about it. Getting all those animals and their trainers, building the arc, the amount of cgi needed, etc. Had to have been expensive and time consuming.

Random acts of kindness which is a message in the movie is a good message. Though some random acts of kindness, depending on where you live maybe illegal. For example, adding a coin to a parking meter that is about to expire when the vehicle is not your is illegal in some areas. Cleaning up a park maybe illegal since those parks are supposed to be cleaned by city workers (recently happened in Cleveland where volunteer groups cleaned several parks and the city workers are suing since that is their job). Also some random acts of kindness may not be seen as an act of kindness. For example, some people, most commonly women feminists, will actually get mad at you for holding the door open for them, even though you would hold the door open for anyone in that circumstance.

Save the Earth

The statement "Save the Earth" which is used by some environmentalists, annoys me. The reason I dislike it is because the Earth is in no danger. There is nothing people can do that would damage the Earth beyond it's ability for self repair. They are not saving the Earth. What they're doing is keeping the Earth habitable for humans. We could pollute the world as much as we want and the Earth will continue just fine. We'll have wiped ourselves and countless species of animal/plant life out but the world and life of some type will continue.

Environmentalism is really just keeping the world fit to live in, maintaining our way of living. I'm all for environmentalism. I think we should try and take care of the planet to the best of our abilities so that future generations have many of the things we have. If we don't though life will continue. It's unlikely that even humanity would be wiped out. Sure millions maybe even billions of people may die (depending on what particular calamities occur). People would likely adapt and survive in some fashion. We are a fairly creative species and are capable of altering our environment to suit us at least on small scale. If/when global warming does occur it's not likely to kill off humanity, just a percentage of humanity.

Abitibi Paper Recycling

In the area I live at there are these Green and Yellow dumpsters called Abitibi paper retriever. I like the idea. You drop in your junk mail, newspapers, magazines, miscellaneous paper and they recycle it with a portion of the profits going to the charity (i.e. place with the bin). Where I live they do not collect loose paper only bundled Newspaper in the regular recycling truck. I put a box in my basement and throw all my junk paper in there. Once the box fills up I dump the paper at one of the boxes. I drop them in three separate boxes, depending on where I happen to be going (I do not like making multiple trips). A fire station, a church, and a school. I really like the idea. I'm getting rid of paper that I'd otherwise throw away and helping a good cause at the same time.

According to the company, one ton of recycling paper saves 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4,102 kilowatts of electricity, 60 pounds of air pollution and 70 gallons of water. They have boxes across the US, Canada, and the UK. There website where you can get more information is (such as locations) here: http://paperretriever.com/ by dropping your loose paper and newspapers into these boxes your both recycling the paper and helping local charities. If your neighborhood doesn't have a paper recycling box at the schools/churches/fire stations ask them to sign up with it as a way to better the earth and earn some money on the paper they would otherwise throw out.

Energy Saving, Environment Helping, and Money Saving Tips

In all likelihood you already know of the vast majority of these. I'm not the first person to put some variation of these on the Internet. Many of these are just common sense. Less energy used = Less energy costs. If you check a money saving or an environmental concerns book or website they will say much the same thing as this.

1. Use or replace existing items with more energy efficient versions.

   1. Purchase fluorescent or even better LED light bulbs.

   2. Use rechargeable batteries instead of disposable ones.

   3. Use a laptop instead of a desktop (uses less energy).

   4. Use solar powered objects if possible (Solar powered battery chargers for instance).

   5. Purchase Energy Star appliances.

   6. Fan instead of air conditioner.

   7. Use a microwave or toaster oven to reheat or cook since it uses less energy than conventional ovens do (if possible solar cooker since is most energy efficient).

   8. Use a battery powered or better yet a water powered clock instead of a plug in clock since plug-in clocks use a lot more energy than they need to (10-100 times as much).

   9. In general if there is a battery operated version of something you use that plugs in switch to that since they generally are more energy efficient (if your using rechargeable batteries).

   10. Toilet and shower head with low flow versions.

   11. Hybrid Car

   12. Front loading washing machine

   13. Convection ovens

   14. Tankless Water Heaters.

   15. Sponges and rags instead of paper towels.

2. Conserve Energy

   1. Insulate/winterize your house as much as possible (plastic over windows, blanket in front of door crack, etc.).

   2. Turn off the lights when your not using them (This is fairly obvious).

   3. Turn off water when not using it. In other words do not leave the water running when brushing or shavings.

   4. Water your plants early in the morning or in the evening. Avoid watering mid day because more water will be lost to evaporation.

   5. Do not leave appliances on standby. Appliances still use energy when left in standby mode it is much better to turn the appliance off. Even better unplug them or if on a plug strip switch the plug strip off.

   6. Wrap your water heater in an insulation blanket. This will make it so your water heater doesn't have to run as often since the water will stay hot longer.

   7. Insulate your water pipes.

   8. Put on a sweater instead of turning up the heat.

   9. Air dry items if you can - clothes instead of using the dryer, dishes don't use dry setting on dish washer.

   10. Fill up washing machines and dish washers before using them. If you do use them when only half full or something be sure to set it at half load (or equivalent setting).

   11. Cover pots when cooking since it cooks faster and conserves more heat. Also add a little salt to water so that the water boils at a hotter temperature causing items in the water to cook faster.

   12. Move fridge and freezers as far from heat sources (heater vents and ovens) as possible because they will have to work harder to keep cold.

   13. Sweep your yard with a broom or rake instead of using a hose or air blower.

   14. Put a piece of aluminum foil under your ironing board cover to reflect the heat and make ironing faster.

   15. Keep water in refrigerator for drinking instead of running water until the water cools

   16. Use cold water washing since you uses less energy.

   17. Lower your water heater temperature to around 120°F unless you really need a higher temperature.

   18. Take more showers than baths. Bathing takes more water than showers.

   19. Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows.

   20. Turn off stove and oven a few minutes before time is up. Residual heat will finish the job.

   21. Bake foods together if possible (ex. Bake the cookies with dinner instead of separately).

   22. Turn off decorative outdoor gas lamps - these are just wasteful.

3. Do maintenance on items – Things in good condition are more efficient and last longer.

   1. Repair leaky plumbing (faucets, toilets, pipes, etc.) promptly. Your just wasting water otherwise.

   2. Clean or replace filters on your furnace, air conditioner, air purifiers, vacuums, dryer, etc. Do this regularly since dirty ones don't work as well and use more energy (some like dryer after every use).

   3. Clean (vacuum or brush off) the condenser coils on the back of your refrigerator/dehumidifier at least twice a year.

Be a conscious consumer

If you click on the above image it will take you to a site in which they ask you to make a small change in your life. The small change will reduce your impact on the climate change (i.e. global warming). This months pledge is to wash clothes in cold water instead of hot water, this simple change will use less energy and therefor cause less of an impact on the environment as well as cost you less money (because your not paying to heat the water unnecessarily). While the pledge is only for the United States you can still cut back on the amount of hot water you use even if you don't live in the US.

Stop Your Junk Mail!

Junk mail (Direct Mailings) are a nuisance. People spend a large amount of time looking through them and disposing them. Massive amount of trees are cut down to make all that junk mail, trees that can be put to better use like providing Oxygen. Many of the trees used in Junk mail are rarer trees that do not recycle well. Another reason to stop junk mail is to make your postal workers job a little easier. I've compiled a list of ways to stop your Junk mail. These are all free. (there are several services that will do this for you for pay but why should you when it can easily be done for free).

There is free do not mail list here: https://www.directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/

To stop Credit Card and Credit Insurance Offers you can call1-888-5OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or go to www.optoutprescreen.com required to enter name and address. You do not have to enter your social security number, phone number, and birthday even though they ask for them.

To stop getting Aol discs call 1-800-605-4297.

To stop Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes call 1-800-645-9242.

To stop American Family Sweepstakes call 1-800-237-2400.

To stop Val-Pak Coupons
http://www.coxtarget.com/mailsuppression/s/DisplayMailSuppressionForm

To stop sexually explicit mail fill out this form: http://www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect/smutmail.htm

To stop catalogs and particular junk mail. Call up the companies customer service center and ask to be removed from their mailing list (have the label handy because they may ask for information from it).

Occasionally first class junk mail can be stopped by crossing out the address and bar code, circle the first class postage and write "refused: return to sender". Then drop it into a mail box.

Another thing you can do to take the prepaid (no postage required) envelopes and stuff them full of paper. Drop in the mailbox. The company will have to pay the postage, this won't stop the junk mail from them but it will cost them some money.

If you fill out a warranty card (mostly a waste of time since they generally aren't required) or give to a charity you should write "do not sell my name or address" or something similiar somewhere on it.

Not everyone lives in the USA but that doesn't mean you can't stop the junk mail.

In the UK go to this site: http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/

In Canada, I don't know of a website but you can write to: Do Not Mail Service, c/o Canadian Marketing Association , 1 Concord Gate, Suite 607, North York, ON. M3C 3N6. Tell them you want to be removed from their master mailing list. Include your address, postal code and all the forms of your name that have appeared on your mail.

I don't know about other countries but a web search for stop Junk mail (or Direct Mail) may help you find a way to stop getting so much useless mail.

While you are stopping junk mail you should also consider unsubscribing to any magazines or newspapers that you don't actually read/use. After all they are just taking up room, costing you money, and cutting down perfectly good oxygen producing trees. (If you only occasionally look at a magazine consider looking for the magazine/newspaper online or checking your local library for the magazine/newspaper.)