Recycle Your Mailing - Green marketing

Today, most of us regularly recycle newspapers, but many people don’t know that they can also recycle catalogs, magazines, direct mail, envelopes, and packaging. As a result, only about 30 percent of this “mixed paper” is recycled annually in the United States

As a direct marketer, selling is what you do. And you can “sell” the idea of recycling “mixed paper” to your customers and prospects by adding the DMA’s “Recycle Please” logo to your catalogs and mail pieces.

The DMA’s “Recycle Please” campaign is designed to encourage consumers to toss fliers, envelopes, catalogs and direct mail pieces into the recycle bin after reading them.

And, when more people recycle, the availability of recycled paper should increase, and, hopefully the cost will go down as well, which is good for your business.

Conclusion:
Greening your mailing practices doesn’t have to be “green pie in the sky.” There are simple practices that can help you save money on postage, printing and production, while at the same time helping improve the environment that we will pass onto the next generation. In fact, USPS Deliver magazine recently detailed some accomplishments companies have made with their sustainable green practices:

• 3 percent savings on paper quantity, the result of reductions in mailer sizes, spared nonprofit group Consumers Union more than $250,000 over three years.

• 375 million paper pages were saved in 2007 when MetLife began mailing directories and periodicals on CDs instead of paper.

• 930 million pieces of unwanted mail were eliminated last year by the 1,500 marketers using the DMA’s Mail Preference Service.

And, that’s just a start. What difference can you make for your business and the environment by greening your mail?

Here are 9 other steps you can implement to green your mailings – reducing waste, while improving deliverability, effectiveness and response.