MORE PEOPLE IN WALES SAY NO TO UNWANTED MAIL

Latest figures from Waste Awareness Wales reveal people in Wales are saying no to unwanted mail. With high profile news stories earlier this year making junk mail – also known as direct mail - headline news, it seems people are becoming more aware of ways they can avoid receiving unwanted mail.

The figures show nearly 23,000 homes have registered to remove their names from the direct mail database between April and September alone.

In addition to advice on how to reduce junk mail posted on its website – www.wasteawarenesswales.org.uk - Waste Awareness Wales continues to encourage local authorities and other campaign partners to run their own local campaigns by providing them with leaflets that contain all the information people need to known about registering with the Mailing Preference Service – these contain a slip to send to the Mailing Preference Service  so people can dramatically reduce the amount of junk mail they receive.

Waste Awareness Wales also promotes the reduction of junk mail, alongside other waste reduction ideas, at public events such as the Royal Welsh Show, and encourages people to state on their letterboxes they don’t want flyers and other junk mail, to help deter those unwanted leaflets.

Councillor Richard Parry-Hughes, chairperson of Waste Awareness Wales, commented:

"This summer, junk mail has made the headlines of nearly every newspaper in Wales, helping raise people’ s awareness that there is a choice as to whether you receive this or not. If you don’t want to receive junk mail, registering can make a huge difference to reducing waste: for every tonne of junk mail we can prevent being produced, we save around 17 trees, 390 gallons of oil and 7,000 gallons of water.

"It’s great to see that so many people are taking action to stop unwanted mail, as preventing waste is even better than recycling – although of course, if you do like to receive this mail, remember it can still be recycled along with all your other unwanted paper."

For more advice on how to reduce the amount of junk mail coming through your letterbox, please visit www.wasteawarenesswales.org.uk/reduce/junkmail.html