Junk: It comes in the mail. It balloons to fill every inch of space in your garage. It multiplies like Gremlins in your inbox. It's estimated that each American household receives some 800 pieces of junk mail annually.
Then, of course, there's also the spam, the newsletters you never signed up for, and the stuff crammed into your closet (that you do remember buying, but wish you could forget).
Junk-busting start ups and online communities have been popping up recently, claiming to banish all different flavors of junk, virtual and physical, with just a few clicks. Here are a few that might prove helpful:
PaperKarma
Use this iPhone app to snap a picture of your junk mail (showing your address), press send, and the junk mail will supposedly stop.
Unroll.me
After being granting access to your inbox, Unroll.me will manage your newsletters in one central spot. You can opt out of any email newsletters with one click.
Freecycle
This free platform is a place where users can connect to give away (and take!) old stuff. It is made up of grassroots members (over 9 million worldwide) who coordinate an effort to give (and get) things for free.
(Image: Chris Perez/Cheyenne Weaver's Gilded Simplicity)
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I downloaded PaperKarma after seeing it reviewed on another site but was immediately turned off when it wanted me to sync it with Facebook. I couldn't find a way around it.
I love these ideas, but like Miller above says, it seems like the apps would have way too much access to personal information - esp. the one that wants my address. Not only would they have my info., but it could be hacked. I sat down one night and emailed every company I was getting unwanted mail from and requested that I be removed. It stopped for awhile and has picked up again - this time, I think, with different companies!
Unfortunately Freecycle in Austin, Texas can be a bit highbrow. I had a few things to give away and they rejected my request to join - no reason given.
I was able to give the items freely to other organizations.
I have had the same problem with Grand Rapids Freecycle. I have tried to join several times, but keep getting rejected (or something). I have other yahoo groups I am a member of, so I don't know what is going on with that. I seem to forget and try every so often, then the same thing happens and I go "oh yeah..."
I just use Craigslist instead.
Anyone know where the photo for this post comes from or what that paint color is?
Wait, nevermind. It's in the file name. Got it.
Pi - FYI for the future, at the bottom of every post, we always have an image credit linking to the original source of the pic - hope that helps!
https://www.catalogchoice.org
It's free, and it works! I've been using it for around a year and I barely get any junk mail now.
And just when you've gotten off all the catalog lists, your high schooler will start taking standardized tests and the college brochure deluge begins...
@BrieBrie & @ alahoop-- The first time I tried to join Freecycle,I was rejected.I e-mailed the moderators,and it turned out it was because I chose the wrong e-mail notice option,or something (some stupid rule that made no sense).I went back and signed up again,checking the correct option,and was accepted.
Freecycle is amazing. I held out for a long time (Yahoo lists? I mean really?) but broke down and tried it when I couldn't give things away on Craigslist. At least in northern NJ, people are reliable and nice!
I'm a Freecycle group moderator. We turn down requests from people outside our geographic area, because having non-local members makes Freecycle work less well. (We direct such applicants to the groups closer to them, so they can join those groups.) We also send out an email that all prospective members must reply to - it's simple for people to respond to it, and doing this helps keep the spammers out.
If you're having problems joining your group, check with the moderators. They are there to help! (And if your group happens to have poor moderators, I'm sorry.)
I read somewhere that the new smart phones aren't phones so much as tracking devices.
Marbelous, the reason your junk mail picked up again is that that the companies you disconnected from buy mailing lists from companies (with whom you must have more recently given your address). I just recently found this out. When I tried to disconnect from this one company with whom I thought I had already disconnected from, I said, "so you won't send me anything even if a list you buy has my name and address on it?" The guy on the phone hedged.
I used to give great stuff away on Freecycle, but then I started charging a modest fee for it on Craigslist. That works too, even better.
From a comment on a similar article from 2011 in the NYT:
"The only truly effective way to stop unwanted junk mail is to go to every source that has your name/address and ask then to not rent your name. All will oblige. This includes the three credit bureaus, all subscriptions, and anyplace you've bought something. Then when the volume slows down you have to call the unwanted catalog and ask where they rented your name from. Insist that they answer. And then get the source to stop renting."
I have a rather unique experience when it come to eliminating clutter. I actually consulted a interior designer that specialized in local space astrology. She took my birth time, date and location and made map of my place that told me how to best organize and situate my space. I have to admit, it really works! look up KMW Interiors in LA. They know what they're doing on some crazy cosmic level!
I have used catalogchoice.com and it worked to get rid of all of my catalogs. Unfortunately I think they just wait a year or two and start sending them again. That is what happened to me. Pottery Barn is the worst. I don't like the direction the company has gone anyway so it usually goes directly into the recycle bin, both copies since somehow I now receive 2.
Sometimes the word that comes up for me when I think about our culture is -- predatory.