How do I get Postman to stop delivering junk mail? (merged)

lisyloo

Can't you just put a polite 'NO JUNK MAIL' notice on your front door?

As another poster has already mentioned the post office do not consider their stuff to be junk mail.
People who are getting paid to deliver stuff or voluntarily doing it do not consider it to be JUNK.

A notice that says "No unsolicted mail" might be better but that assumes that they can understand the word.

savvy

lisyloo wrote:

A notice that says "No unsolicted mail" might be better but that assumes that they can understand the word.

LOL mine says 'NO circulars, leaflets or free newspapers - THINK WASTE!' Obviously it SHOULD have included Takeaway Menus too!!! :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

lisyloo

I sympathize a little with the people doing the job (even though I hate waste).
With a very boring job it's dead easy just to "switch off".
The people that deliver are jsut doing their job.

It's a bit like the people taking all the packaging off in supermarkets.
It's not the fault of the checkout operators that there is too much packaging.

Ken68

I like the idea from the poster to save up the junk mail and put it back into the post box.
Gonna do that , pile it up, and returns whenst it came.....at Christmas time.

lisyloo

I think it would have more effect to put it on the counter (or floor) of one of their offices. If you put it in the postbox they won't necessarily get the message that you are trying to pass on. They might assume it's just kids or someone messing about.

If you take it to a collection office and say "here is your junk mail back" then at least one employee has heard what you said.

MrB_2

lisyloo wrote:

With a very boring job it's dead easy just to "switch off".
The people that deliver are jsut doing their job.

Switch off when posting?

3plus1

Have been reading with interest.

One point I wanted to make, was that mail addressed "To the Occupier" can be important. I'm not 100% sure of the exact legalities anywhere else, but in Scotland, if someone is applying for planning permission for a development near you, their architects will send you a map clearly marking the proposed changes, along with details of how to lodge a complaint, if you disagree with the proposal and think it should be scrapped.

For residential properties, this is addressed "To the Occupier". In some cases, a second identical copy is sent out, addressed "To the Owner". By trying to get rid of non-addressed mail, you might be setting yourself up for trouble. A lot of "To the Occupier" mail is car loans and the like, but sometimes it's a warning that some idiot is trying to build a huge house in your back garden that overlooks your bedroom. The architects are not obliged to ensure you've received the documents - if you don't have time to protest because you told Royal Mail not to deliver your letters, it's your own fault.

Honestly, I don't see what the fuss is about. The people who produce junk mailings are not going to start producing less of them just because you keep refusing their junk. They're just going to bin the spares. You may as well accept them, filter out the junk, and recycle what you can.

gromituk

3plus1 wrote:

The people who produce junk mailings are not going to start producing less of them just because you keep refusing their junk. They're just going to bin the spares.

Eh? Why on earth would they want to throw money down the drain like that?

SusanCarter

3plus1 wrote:

Have been reading with interest.

One point I wanted to make, was that mail addressed "To the Occupier" can be important. I'm not 100% sure of the exact legalities anywhere else, but in Scotland, if someone is applying for planning permission for a development near you, their architects will send you a map clearly marking the proposed changes, along with details of how to lodge a complaint, if you disagree with the proposal and think it should be scrapped.

For residential properties, this is addressed "To the Occupier". In some cases, a second identical copy is sent out, addressed "To the Owner". By trying to get rid of non-addressed mail, you might be setting yourself up for trouble. A lot of "To the Occupier" mail is car loans and the like, but sometimes it's a warning that some idiot is trying to build a huge house in your back garden that overlooks your bedroom. The architects are not obliged to ensure you've received the documents - if you don't have time to protest because you told Royal Mail not to deliver your letters, it's your own fault.

The Royal Mail opt out is for unaddressed mail. If it has an address on it and says something like "to the occupier" then it is not unaddressed mail and they are obliged to deliver it. It is only unaddressed mail (such as leaflets) which can be opted out of.

3plus1 wrote:

Honestly, I don't see what the fuss is about. The people who produce junk mailings are not going to start producing less of them just because you keep refusing their junk. They're just going to bin the spares. You may as well accept them, filter out the junk, and recycle what you can.

If say 10 000 people opted out tomorrow then initially they would have surplus leaflets which they would dispose of but they would not keep on producing 10 000 too many leaflets forever: they would start producing less of them. The reason people object is because of the environmental impact of the production of all this junk mail. Reducing (i.e. not producing the leafletc in the first place) is better than recycling.

lisyloo

Switch off when posting?

Yes, sorry if it wasn't clear what I meant.
Have you never driven or walked anywhere on "autopilot"?

I think most people who do a job for years do things sub-conciously and are not really paying proper concious attention.
I could deliver letters and not notice the big sign on the door if I wasn't concentrating and was planning a holiday at the time.

I am against waste but I do sympathize with the employee at the end of the chain who is just trying to do their job.

I would be planning holidays, finances and day dreaming if I delivered letter because it wouldn't engage me mentally.