Stop your junk mail! This website has been set up to make it a bit easier to sign up to junk mail opt-out schemes. There are no less than six opt-out services for junk mail and paper directories in the UK - and before Junk Buster was launched they all had to be contacted separately. In just a few clicks you can now contact up to six junk mail opt-out schemes.
Junk Buster is not just about making opting out easier. I set up Junk Buster out of frustration with the junk mail industry's unwillingness to provide a decent service to the millions of people who have no need for advertisements being pushed through their door. There are many things that could be done to make stopping junk mail easier. This here is Junk Buster's manifesto…
The junk mail industry is currently self-regulating. This largely explains why there are so many opt-out schemes and why they don't co-operate. Put simply; the more opt-out schemes there are, the less likely it is people will sign up to them. Hence we got a scheme for addressed junk mail; a scheme for unaddressed mail delivered by Royal Mail; a scheme for unaddressed mail delivered by members of the Direct Marketing Association; a scheme for the Yellow Pages; a scheme for Thomson Local; and a scheme for the BT Telephone Directory. This nonsense should end; the Direct Marketing Association should set up its own official junk buster (which should also include the Telephone and Fax Preference Service).
None of the opt-out services is properly advertised. Only 198,000 households are currently registered with the Door-to-Door Opt-Out, for instance. That's 0.7 per cent of all UK households. The figure for Your Choice is negligible; only 1,600 households have signed up (0.0006 per cent of UK households). Even the Direct Marketing Association would not dare argue that the take up is so low because people actually like junk mail. The simple truth is that people don't know they can opt out. It's time junk mailers start advertising their own opt-out services. Information about opting out should be advertised prominently in every directory; Royal Mail should organise an annual mail-out to tell each and every household in the country about the existence of its opt-out scheme; and that the Mailing Preference Service should be advertised on every piece of junk mail that could have been prevented by signing up to the scheme.
There is no need for opt-out schemes to be run by junk mailers. All opt-out services should be taken away from the industry and run by an independent organisation which cares about people, not junk mailers.
All opt-out schemes should give people the opportunity to register online. Currently, only the Mailing Preference Service allows people to do so. The only reason why the Door-to-Door Opt-Out and Your Choice work with paper confirmation forms is that this makes it more difficult to register. Yell, Thomson Local and BT all refuse to advertise their schemes and don't allow people to opt-out online for that reason - the only way to find out about their opt-out schemes is via websites as these!
You currently need to do no less than three things just to stop unaddressed junk mail. Apart from signing up to the Door-to-Door Opt-Out and Your Choice scheme you also need to get a 'No Junk Mail' sticker (this is because the majority of leaflets coming through the door are not delivered by Royal Mail and or members of the Direct Marketing Association). There is no need for things to be so complicated and discouraging. In Canada, Australia and on mainland Europe people can simply stop commercial leaflets by putting a 'No Junk Mail' sign on their letterbox. Why have all these bureaucratic opt-out schemes if there's such an easy solution?
Stop Junk Mail Guide
This guide tells you about the most effective ways of reducing junk mail. It is a shortened version of the excellent guide to stamping out junk mail which you can find on the Stop Junk Mail website.
- Stopping Unaddressed Junk Mail
- Royal Mail's Door-to-Door Opt-Out
- Your Choice Preference Scheme for Unaddress Mail
- Letterbox Sticker
- Stopping Addressed Junk Mail
- Mailing Preference Service
- Edited Electoral Register
- Preventing Junk Mail
- Tick Boxes
- Getting Off Mailing Lists
- Return to Sender
- Contact the Sender
1. Stopping Unaddressed Junk Mail
Royal Mail's Door-to-Door Opt-Out
From April 2010, Royal Mail is allowed to deliver unlimited amounts of leaflets. There was a cap of three unaddressed items per household per week, but this has been scrapped as part of the company's modernisation plans. Opting out of Royal Mail's so-called 'door-to-door service' is the most effective measure you can take to reduce junk mail. It will already stop at least 150 pieces of junk mail per year; a figure that is likely to increase.
› Request an opt-out form using Junk Buster
Your Choice Preference Scheme for Unaddress Mail
Your Choice is a new opt-out scheme for unaddressed junk mail delivered by members of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). It was hoped Your Choice would become some sort of Mailing Preference Service for unaddressed junk mail, but unfortunately the scheme has been set up willy-nilly. Registering will do little to reduce junk mail, but then it can't hurt either…
› Request an opt-out form using Junk Buster
Letterbox Sticker
A 'no junk mail' sign will stop junk mail not delivered by Royal Mail or members by the DMA; that is, the bulk of it. The stickers available in our 'No Junk' Shop also give you the option to say 'yes' or 'no' to free newspapers.
2. Stopping Addressed Junk Mail
Mailing Preference Service
The MPS is a free service that can remove your name from many direct mailing lists. You can also use the service to register a previous occupant's name at your current address.
It is a myth that the MPS will stop up to 95 per cent of addressed junk mail. Many mailing lists are made up of people who failed to tick an opt-out box when they bought a product or donated money to a charity. Unfortunately, the MPS will do nothing to stop these mailings. The MPS argues that people who don't tick those miniscule and hidden opt-out boxes want to receive junk mail.
That said, we estimate that registering with the MPS will roughly half the amount of addressed junk mail you receive. It's still well-worth registering.
› Opt-out using Junk Buster
Edited Electoral Register
Your annual electoral registration form gives you the option to opt out of having your personal details included on the 'edited version' of the electoral register. We can't recommend strongly enough that you tick the opt-out box on the form. There is absolutely no advantage whatsoever in being on the edited electoral register. The list can be bought by any person and may be used for any purpose. It's the most common source for the creation of junk mail lists.
If you're not sure whether or not you have opted-out, or if you would like to opt-out, you don't need to wait until you receive your next registration form to do so. You can opt-out at any time of the year by contacting your local elections office.
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3. Preventing Junk Mail
Tick Boxes
When you give your name and address to an organisation, for instance when you buy a product or service, look in the small print and tick the box to say that you don't want to receive mailings from that organisation.
Most businesses and charities go great lenghts to hide opt-out boxes. This is because by not ticking the box you give an organisation permission to send you junk mail. Usually they sell your personal details to other organisations, who in turn will sell your details to other companies etc. Before you know it you're on tens of mailing list and inundated with junk mail.
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4. Getting Off Mailing Lists
Return to Sender
If you receive junk mail with a return address on the envelope, write 'Unsolicited mail, please return to sender' on the envelope and put it back in the post unstamped. The sender will have to pay the return postage and may remove your details from its mailing lists.
If you receive lots of addressed junk mail, consider buying a pad with these bright return to sender labels. It makes returning junk mail a lot easier and a lot more fun…
› Get return to sender labels
Contact the Sender
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, any organisation has to stop sending you junk mail if you directly ask them to do so. Usually, it is enough to phone the sender and ask them to take your details of its mailing list. However, your request will only be legally binding if it is in writing.
Detailed guidelines for contacting bulk mailers and example letters you can use are available on the Stop Junk Mail website.
© 2009 by Stop Junk Mail, 2 Mill Hill Road, Norwich, NR2 3DP