Direct Mail and Solid Waste

We haven’t done a “green” post in a while so I figured one was overdue. This post is going to be a random string of stats and thoughts.

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The debate rages on about the direct mail industry not being environmentally-friendly so I thought it would be interesting to reprint some eye-opening stats from the September issue of Deliver Magazine.

Americans generated more than 169 million tons of municipal solid waste in 2007 that was discarded into the stream to be disposed of for recycling efforts or to become part of the nation’s landfills.

According to the EPA, here’s the percentage breakdown of this solid waste:

Food Scraps 18.2%
Yard Trimmings 6.9%
Furniture and Furnishings 5.5%
Corrugated Boxes 4.9%
Clothing and Footwear 4.2%
Glass, Beer and Soft Drink Bottles 3.0%
Newspapers and Magazines 2.3%
Plastic Bags, Sacks and Wraps 2.3%
Disposable Diapers 2.2%
Direct Mail 2.1%

I was pleasantly surprised to see direct mail at the bottom of the breakdown…I was even more surprised to see how much food we waste!

On a side note, I read in DM News that we plant 2 trees for every 1 we cut down to make paper. And we (Ballantine) know from experience with our own network of printers that many are becoming more and more “green” conscious.

So I think things are looking good and getting better. What do you think?

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