IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/recore/v55y2011i8p782-784.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Junk mail in residential homes in the United States: Insights from a sub-urban home in California

Author

Listed:
  • Wambuguh, Oscar

Abstract

Although systematic studies tracking junk mail sent to residential homes are lacking, available reports indicate it is a growing problem in many urban centers worldwide. Junk mail increases the number of trees harvested each year, consumes a substantial amount of energy, causes pollution to air, water and soil and wastes a substantial amount of time sorting, mailing and recycling. Junk mail collected at one residence in the United States for a period of one full year is analyzed to find out the main contributors to this urban problem, what residents should do to reduce or eliminate it. Results indicate that three major businesses are responsible for over 70% of total junk mail sent (n=1255) including credit card, mortgage and insurance corporations. To encourage environmental sustainability, several strategies that can help businesses reduce junk mail are suggested including new advertising techniques, use of other outlets like billboards, outreach events in social functions and adopting eco-friendly techniques in any junk mail production. Considering the revenue and jobs created from junk mail business, and the absence of government regulation and lack of consensus amongst individuals, environmental groups and businesses on what needs to be done; individuals are urged to explore ways to mitigate the problem and a number of recommendations are given.

Suggested Citation

  • Wambuguh, Oscar, 2011. "Junk mail in residential homes in the United States: Insights from a sub-urban home in California," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 55(8), pages 782-784.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:55:y:2011:i:8:p:782-784
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2011.03.011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921344911000486
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.resconrec.2011.03.011?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:55:y:2011:i:8:p:782-784. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kai Meng (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/resources-conservation-and-recycling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.