Holidays are coming; use these tips to get rid of junk mail

The holidays are coming, bringing friends, family – and unfortunately, more junk mail than residents can probably imagine.

Want to keep the friends and family but get rid of the junk mail? San Diego County's Department of Public Works has some tips to help out.

And these tips won't just slim down a mailbox and cut mail-sorting time. They can also help the environment by saving millions of trees that absorb millions of tons of greenhouse gas a year and by keeping paper that was not recycled from filling up local landfills.

County Public Works said that the average American receives 40 pounds of catalogs and direct marketing mail a year, about 848 pieces of junk mail per person. With that in mind, here are five tips to help lose a little junk-mail weight and help the environment:

First, resident can remove their name from mailing lists, such as direct mailer registries through the National Do Not Mail List, weekly grocery mailers through Red Plum and RetailMeNot and weekly coupon mailers through Valpak.

DMA Choice is an inexpensive paid service from the Direct Mail Association that removes a resident's name from their members' direct mail lists. Their members include thousands of major brands. Removing a name from all categories takes just a few minutes. A credit card is needed to sign up. DMA Choice costs $2 for 10 years of service.

To permanently opt out from receiving credit and insurance offers, residents can remove their name from the mailing list at http://www.OptOutPreScreen.com or send a written request to each of the three national credit reporting agencies in the U.S .: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

Residents can remove their name from specific catalog lists by visiting http://www.CatalogChoice.org.

To reduce junk mail even more, contact companies directly. Residents can ask companies to remove their name from their mailing lists or tell them not to sell their name or send promotional materials and be sure to sign up for paperless billing.

Don't forget to opt out of receiving a phonebook and use online search engines to the phone. Use the free service at Yellow Pages Opt-Out. Just enter the five-digit ZIP code to view which directories are distributed in any area and use a name and address to opt out of the unwanted selections at http://www.YellowPagesOptOut.com.

Follow the easy steps above and residents can prevent up to 90% of junk mail from finding its way to their doorstep. Remember to be patient It may take six to eight weeks to see the results. And always remember to "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle."

For more recycling information and tips for how to cut food waste, about residential recycling, where to recycle, upcoming recycling events, composting and other recycling-related topics, visit Public Works' Solid Waste Planning and Recycling at http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/dpw/recycling.html or connect with them on Facebook.