Whoever thought we would live in a world where we would have to worry about our carbon footprints. Deforestation alone accounts for pieces of the world’s forest to disappear that are roughly the size of Panama every year. This expansive loss of trees causes weather changes that can be catastrophic to the Earth’s eco-systems. Trees perpetuate the water cycle by returning water vapor back into the air; without trees, areas that were once heavily vegetated are quickly becoming barren desert areas.

You may be asking yourself, “what does deforestation have to do with me?” Have you ever looked in your mail at all the junk mail you receive? Did you know that only 30 percent of that mail is recycled annually? According to the Direct Marketing Association, those people responsible for dropping off all that junk mail in your mailbox, Americans threw away 35.7 million tons of paper in 2006 alone. While they are insisting on us to “recycle” the junk they drop off in our mailboxes, wouldn’t it make more sense to receive the advertisements you want in your inbox on your cell phone? Direct mail alone makes up for 2% of ALL waste in America! Only 33 percent of the waste stream is actually recycled, mostly due to restrictions on the type of paper, the type of plant the paper is dropped off at, and the condition of the paper. If I never wanted the advertisement to begin with, could I have saved a tree?

Txtmailer is an innovative way at looking at this crisis. Not only can I choose which companies I want to receive text messages from, but I can choose the number of texts I receive. I can opt out of receiving Direct Marketing as much as possible by notifying my local post office that I no longer wish to receive generic mass mailings, and I can log online and select the businesses I want to hear from. What a concept! No more ads for new tile, sunken bathtubs, or scary looking Chinese restaurants are coming to my mailbox. Instead, I can set up my own free account, peruse through the business catalog, and opt to receive texts for dry cleaning, department stores, and car washes. Save a tree. Stop increasing the size of America’s carbon footprint and start being tech savvy with the latest app to hit cell phones. You carry that thing with you everywhere you go anyway. Why not make it do something good for planet Earth, too?

References, and yes you know you want to read these, too!

National Recycling Coalition http://www.nrc-recycle.org/whyitsimportant.aspx
“Please Recycle” http://www.dmaresponsibility.org/Recycle/Recycleplease_ForConsumers.html
“Deforestation” http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/deforestation-overview.html