A Call For Action

I don’t usually editorialize in this space; I feel that I have a few worthwhile observations to offer on business and management topics, based on 20+ years in business and 6+ years in graduate school in Management, but outside of that specialty I don’t know that my opinions are any better than anyone else’s. However there are some social, environmental and consumer issues on which I feel very strongly, and after the experiences of the past few months I feel that I need to call one of them to your attention. This is a terrible scourge that has the potential to inflict massive financial and environmental damage on the United States, and indeed, anywhere else that this issue is left unchecked. I refer, of course, to flame-retardant junk mail…

I recently had occasion to round up the junk mail that had accumulated in various corners of our house, and I found myself truly appalled at both how much there was, and by how difficult much of it was to destroy. I typically use a small document shredder to reduce all of the junk mail to small, confetti-like pieces, and then scatter the pieces further by mixing them randomly together with the remains of many other junk mail pieces and other waste paper (also reduced to confetti). I will then attempt to find some way to re-use the paper (cat litter, bedding for pet rats or hamsters, fodder for critters that eat wood fiber, compost and such) or else recycle it. When neither of these options is available, I will usually just take the simplest route and use the paper shreds for kindling (they are an excellent way of starting a fire). Unfortunately, the recent trend toward plastic-coated and vinyl-coated mail pieces makes it unsafe for most animals, and many recycling centers are refusing to accept it either. Worst of all, however, the plastic coatings make these shreds unsafe to burn…

As I went through the piles of junk mail I was amazed at their variety. In some cases, a single monthly file would contain as many as two dozen offers for the same junk offer or credit card; some for Max Belin, some for Max P. Belin, some for Max Paul Belin, some for M.P. Belin, some simply for Mr. Belin, one or two for Professor Belin (which I am not), and in one remarkable case, one for Jqs G3o8h, which I assume was the result of somebody trying to spell my name while being one row above the home row on their keyboard (look it up). My wife’s name appeared in similar variations, including at least two or three cases with the wrong middle name, a considerable number under her previous married name, and one that misspelled her first name as well. This does not even consider the very large number of mail pieces addressed to people who do not live at this address, and as far as I can tell, never have….

Now, I don’t wish to appear insensitive to the junk mail industry. I know that printing and mailing such offers provides jobs to thousands of people all over the world, and that millions of Americans make their living extending credit that people can’t afford, charging them interest of up to 120% per year, repossessing their belongings, foreclosing on their houses, and garnishing their wages. And I realize that all of the people working in the luxury car, private airplane and yacht-building industries would be ruined if the executives and corporate attorneys working for these financial institutions were denied the chance to drive more people into soul-crushing, life-destroying debt. I’m just saying that they should have the decency to use environmentally correct junk mail pieces – and if possible, ones that can be used for fires as well. It’s going to be a cold winter, and a lot of people in this country are going to need all of the fuel they can get if they want to stay warm…