Fixing everything, really slowly

My aim was to write about one good thing a week, I think that was a little ambitious to be starting with. Having got the hang of this blogging lark I’d say once a month would have been a better target, but I’m not going to fuss over it. Lets just say I’m behind, and I owe you 11, ok?

Good thing #2: Reduce your snail mail (and recycle the rest)

Simple really, less mail means less paper manufacturing and less physical transportation of mail and that has to be a good thing. There are a few ways I’ve done this, but I’m sure there are others:

• Switch to online billing. Most utility (Internet, mobile phone, water, electricity, gas etc.) companies have an online billing facility, go to their web site and set it up. If your provider doesn’t have online billing, call them and ask them when they will and if its not soon switch your provider.
• Cancel solicited mail you don’t need. If you’ve bought from catalogues or companies that keep sending you stuff email them or call them and ask them to stop. Tell them you use thier web page. Tell them you’ll stop recommending them to friends or stop using them yourself if the don’t stop sending you paper. Yes, its nice to recieve a nice glossy holiday brochure, but if you booked the first holiday online, do you really need a paper version for next year’s break?
• Try and cancel unsolicited mail. In the UK you can use the Mail preference service to try to stop unwanted mail. There are most likely equivilant sites in other countries (take a look and leave a comment if you find one). One cool thing about MPS is it lets you enter old addresses, so you can get rid of junk from your old homes! Also consider that you can cancel mail to previous ocupants who still get mail sent to your home.

It obviously takes a few weeks to come into effect, but I’ve noticed a difference since I did this a while back. Once you have done this, make sure you recycle the paper that does come through your door. For confidential stuff, use a shredder and either compost the waste or put it into the recycling too.