Holiday Junk Mail, Goodbye!

Posted on November 13, 2013August 28, 2015 by Jeffrey Phillip

Yes, the holiday season is here, and with this wonderful time of year comes mailboxes filled with junk catalogues and mailers – almost every day until January. At first, it’s kind of thrilling to see your mailbox overflowing with shiny catalogs from every shop you ever ducked into to make an impulse buy. However, that feeling quickly diminishes when your pile of present pushers starts to take over your home. It’s almost impossible to stay on top of all these mailers—even for an organizational fanatic. And even worse, including all the horrible things it means for the environment, it inevitably leads to loads of CLUTTER. Mail is one of the major clutter culprits for many people, and having loads of catalogs and other unwanted junk mail come into your home so relentlessly only creates more anxiety. It becomes another chore to deal with. Here’s how I’ve been able to manage the holiday onslaught from the USPS: CatalogChoice.org. It’s an easy to use website that allows you to unsubscribe yourself from a company’s mailings. They take care of all the dirty work. All you need to do is type in the company name and the information they request. CatalogChoice will take care of the rest and even confirm once the request is complete!

Below you can see the stats of how CatalogChoice has been helping the environment. It even shows what my contribution is – so far I’ve saved 2 trees and 228 pounds of solid waste! As a bonus benefit, I love that my info isn’t floating around on nearly so many pieces of mail, creating an opportunity for identity theft.

The Shredding Alternative

Posted on February 23, 2011May 8, 2018 by Jeffrey Phillip

With tax time around the corner, many of us will be sorting through papers and throwing away documents that could list sensitive information such as bank numbers, addresses, full names and social security numbers. As I mentioned in my recent newsletter, identity theft affects millions of people every year and it is not an issue that should be taken lightly. While some people actively try to prevent identify theft by shredding all their documents, many still do not. Their reasoning for not shredding documents can range from not liking the noise of a shredder to child safety. Whatever the reasoning may be, I have recently discovered a simple alternative – the Guard Your ID Stamp.

Sold everywhere from the Container Store to QVC, the Guard Your ID Stamp, is a quick and easy way to prevent your sensitive information from landing in the wrong hands. All you need to do is stamp the information you want blocked and the Guard Your ID Stamp’s unique pattern completely masks your information. Even when holding it up to the light or changing the angle of the light, nothing comes through! Plus, since most waste management companies will not recycle shredded paper (shredding weakens fibers and makes sorting nearly impossible), the Guard Your ID Stamp is the greener solution to your identity protection.

While I still recommend using a shredder or shredding service for large amounts of sensitive information, the Guard Your ID Stamp is perfect for managing everyday mail and small projects.