Reducing Junk Mail

If you’re like most people, you receive a pile of unwanted, unsolicited mail each day, including credit card offers, catalogues, flyers, coupons, and requests for donations. The senders of these direct mailings are aggressive marketers that know your buying habits, hobbies, and other personal information, which they purchased from mailing list brokers retrieving stored data from records about you.

How Did They Get My Address?
Your personal information is compiled in several databases starting the day you are born. The following are just a few of the ways your personal records are accessed and used to send junk mail to your mailbox:

• Public records such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, and home sales records

• White pages of the telephone book

• Credit Bureaus

• Warranty Cards often contain a survey that helps the data collector produce a profile about you and your buying habits. Warranty cards usually are not sent to the manufacturer but to a direct marketing company that sells the information to other companies.

• Buying cards (store membership)—with every swipe of the scanner, information is collected about your purchases such as whether you buy baby or pet products and which brands you prefer.

How Can I Get Off These Lists?
Residents of Kitsap County may call The Open Line at 360-337-5777 for a free Stop Junk Mail kit consisting of five pre-addressed postcards, or print your own using the link below. By mailing these cards, you will reduce your junk mail significantly, however it takes several weeks for your name to be deleted from their lists, so be patient. You will have to do this procedure occasionally when your junk mail volumes rise again, probably once a year. Remember to send the cards back in every name your junk mail is addressed to (James R. Smith, J.R. Smith, James Smith, Jimmy Smith, etc.) and include Occupant and Resident. Even if your name is spelled wrong, return a card spelled the exact way the mail was addressed!    Junk Mail Kit - Adobe Acrobat PDF

One Action That Won’t Help
Stuffing business reply envelopes with junk mail and sending it back won’t stop your junk mail problems. The person who opens the mail simply opens the mail, discards the junk mail inside, and goes on to the next envelope.

Other Options
In addition to the Stop Junk Mail kit, use the following contact information to let the mailers know you DO NOT want their service. Please note that by contacting the Mail Preference Service, most of your junk mail will be reduced. You may want to contact only those senders whose mail you do not want. Look for “opt-out” boxes on the mail you receive or call their customer service number.

Kitsap County Public Works
Solid Waste Division
(360) 337-5777 or (800) 825-4940
solidwaste@co.kitsap.wa.us