In our last post, we featured artist Sandy Schimmel Gold. Now that we've gotten you inspired to turn your junk mail into art (as well as loads of other useful stuff), here's a compilation of tutorials for you to try.
4 Ways to Reuse Your Old Calendars (via re-nest)
Junk Mail Triptych (via re-nest)
Window Envelope Bookmark (via eHow)
Recycled Envelope Pocket Books (via WhipUp.net)
Paper Stars (via This Recycled Life)
Junk Mail Wall Art (via Craftzine.com)
Junk Mail Decoupaging (via The Costumer's Manifesto)
Envelope Corner Bookmark (via Junk Mail Gems)
Punch Collage (via Recycled Crafts)
Paper Beads (via Crafting a Green World)
Junk Mail Postcards (via DIY Network)
Recycled Magazine Earrings (via Craftzine.com)
Friday, January 30, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Schimmel Art
Artist Sandy Schimmel Gold, of Schimmel Art, creates magnificent eco-friendly pieces out of junk mail, advertisements, postcards, greeting cards.
Desert Sunset
Jimi
John Lennon Rock & Roll Listen to this Painting
Marilyn
Moving Water
Shakespeare
Twig the Wonder Kid
More pieces can be seen here.
(Images from Schimmel Art.)
Desert Sunset
Jimi
John Lennon Rock & Roll Listen to this Painting
Marilyn
Moving Water
Shakespeare
Twig the Wonder Kid
More pieces can be seen here.
(Images from Schimmel Art.)
Stop Junk Mail from Arriving in Your Mailbox
These won't garauntee you a life free of junk mail, but it will most certainly help.
- Send a letter to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). DMA will list you in its database in the “Do Not Mail” category.
Mail Preference Service / DMA
ATTN: Dept. 9407644
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512
Tel. No.: 212-768-7277
- You can go to OptOutPrescreen.com, a centralized website run by the four major credit bureaus in the US: Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides you the right to "Opt-Out", which prevents Consumer Credit Reporting Companies from providing your credit file information for Firm Offers.
- A second way to contact all four credit bureaus at once is to call the toll-free number: 888-5OPT-OUT (888-567-8688), 24 hours a day.
- When dealing with a company or charity that knows your address, tell them not to rent or share your name.
- Most catalogs and mailings have a 1-800 number to request they stop future mailings.
- Call or write mail list brokers and ask to be placed on their “suppress” files. Below are a few of the major list brokers, as well as their addresses and phone numbers.
Acxiom Corporation
1 Information Way
Little Rock, AR 72202
Tel. No.: 501-342-2722
Donnelly Marketing, Inc.
Data Base Operations
416 South Bell
Ames, IA 50010
Tel. No.: 888-633-4402
R.L. Polk & Company
Attn: Opt-Out Coordinator
26955 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48034
Tel. No.: 800-464-7655
- Both stopjunk.com and Junk Busters are incredibly useful websites.
- Send a letter to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). DMA will list you in its database in the “Do Not Mail” category.
Mail Preference Service / DMA
ATTN: Dept. 9407644
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512
Tel. No.: 212-768-7277
- You can go to OptOutPrescreen.com, a centralized website run by the four major credit bureaus in the US: Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides you the right to "Opt-Out", which prevents Consumer Credit Reporting Companies from providing your credit file information for Firm Offers.
- A second way to contact all four credit bureaus at once is to call the toll-free number: 888-5OPT-OUT (888-567-8688), 24 hours a day.
- When dealing with a company or charity that knows your address, tell them not to rent or share your name.
- Most catalogs and mailings have a 1-800 number to request they stop future mailings.
- Call or write mail list brokers and ask to be placed on their “suppress” files. Below are a few of the major list brokers, as well as their addresses and phone numbers.
Acxiom Corporation
1 Information Way
Little Rock, AR 72202
Tel. No.: 501-342-2722
Donnelly Marketing, Inc.
Data Base Operations
416 South Bell
Ames, IA 50010
Tel. No.: 888-633-4402
R.L. Polk & Company
Attn: Opt-Out Coordinator
26955 Northwestern Highway
Southfield, MI 48034
Tel. No.: 800-464-7655
- Both stopjunk.com and Junk Busters are incredibly useful websites.
The Facts
Did you know...?
Americans receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail every year.
The average American spends 8 full months of his/her life opening junk mail.
The junk mail Americans receive in one day could produce enough energy to heat 250,000 homes.
Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that doesn’t get recycled. That's right, your tax dollars are going towards the disposal of mail you didn't want to begin with.
More than 90 million trees are leveled each year to provide the paper for mostly unwanted mailings.
If merely 100,000 people stopped their junk mail, we could save up to 150,000 trees annually. If 1 million people did this, we could save up to 1.5 million trees.
Out of 5.6 million tons of mailings generated each year, 4.3 million end up being thrown in the trash.
340,000 garbage trucks are needed to haul away all the junk mail that doesn't quite make it to the recycling bin.
Sure, recycling is helpful, but paper can only be recycled 5-7 times before the fibers get too short to bond into new paper.
Instead of recycling, why not try upcycling?
Upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value.
(I know the focus of this blog is junk mail, but I wanted to throw out there the fact that it takes a plastic bag 500 years to decompose. Reusable shopping bags are the way to go, folks.)
Americans receive almost 4 million tons of junk mail every year.
The average American spends 8 full months of his/her life opening junk mail.
The junk mail Americans receive in one day could produce enough energy to heat 250,000 homes.
Americans pay $370 million annually to dispose of junk mail that doesn’t get recycled. That's right, your tax dollars are going towards the disposal of mail you didn't want to begin with.
More than 90 million trees are leveled each year to provide the paper for mostly unwanted mailings.
If merely 100,000 people stopped their junk mail, we could save up to 150,000 trees annually. If 1 million people did this, we could save up to 1.5 million trees.
Out of 5.6 million tons of mailings generated each year, 4.3 million end up being thrown in the trash.
340,000 garbage trucks are needed to haul away all the junk mail that doesn't quite make it to the recycling bin.
Sure, recycling is helpful, but paper can only be recycled 5-7 times before the fibers get too short to bond into new paper.
Instead of recycling, why not try upcycling?
Upcycling is the practice of taking something that is disposable and transforming it into something of greater use and value.
(I know the focus of this blog is junk mail, but I wanted to throw out there the fact that it takes a plastic bag 500 years to decompose. Reusable shopping bags are the way to go, folks.)
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