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Featured Environment Articles

Customer service 101- What You Absolutely Need to Know
Customer service refers to a person or a desk, which is set up to give general assistance to customers. Success of any company or business lies in the hand of their customers. Once a customer is satisfied with the company, then company will be in good ...

Identify the ways to save energy
People have started to be more and more aware about the fact that they need to save energy in their household for a variety of reasons. The first reason, which is in fact the one that mostly affects them, is related to the financial aspect. Thus, by ...

Hydroponics - Cultivation of Plants in Water
Hydroponics is defined as the cultivation of plants in water. However, research as been conducted to show that many other things play a role besides for just the water therefore the definition has been broadened to read the cultivation of plants without ...





It's OK to Use the Free Stuff You Get in Junk Mail
 
According to several pieces of junk mail the Grinning Planet offices have received this year, we can get 37 CDs for just a penny! Fine, as long as we don't have to listen to the complimentary copy of "Megadeth Plays Liberace."

We're really here today to talk about some of the stuff you get in the mail that may actually be usable. Most of us have received all sorts of supposedly usable stuff in junk mail--free return-address labels, blank greeting cards, calendars, even reeeaaaally flat sponges. Well, we may be very pleased to find out that some junk-mailer considers us "sponge-worthy," but the larger question is, should we use this stuff even if we don't send a contribution to "Save the Down-Sized Rich People" or whatever group sent it to us?

Consider the case of the free return-address labels. The organization sent them to you hoping that you would send them a donation. If you're not inclined to donate, it is NOT unethical for you to use the labels. From an ecological perspective, whether you send the organization money or not is irrelevant. The labels have already been manufactured, packaged, and mailed--those financial costs and resource costs have already been incurred. If you can make use of the free labels instead of throwing them out and buying similar replacement items, then it's a "win" for resource utilization and the


environment. The group that sent you the labels isn't any worse off than if you'd just thrown the labels out. The same logic applies to ALL of the free goodies you get in the mail.

So take those return-address stickers you got from the "Friends of Hard-Luck Martian Television Stars" (or whomever) and use 'em up!

P.S. To get less junk mail in the first place, you can get on the "Stop Sending Me This Crap" list at the Direct Marketing Association's Mail Preference Service -- http://www.dmaconsumers.org/offmailinglist.html .

For jokes, cartoons, and more great environmental information, visit www.grinningplanet.com .

© 2003 by GrinningPlanet.com
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in
print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included. Must
be published complete with no changes. A courtesy copy of your
publication would be appreciated.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark is a writer, financial analyst, web developer, environmentalist, and, as necessary, chef and janitor. Grinning Planet is an expression of Mark's enthusiasm for all things humorous and green, as well as a psychotic desire to work himself half-to-death. Hobbies include health foods, music, getting frustrated over politics, and occasionally lecturing the TV set on how uncreative it is.




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Environmental Leader

NASCAR and EPA Partner on Environmental Initiatives
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Environment Exemption Granted for Roseville Wal-Mart Despite Citizens Group's ...
Patch.com
The Council voted 3-2—with council members Tammy Pust and Tammy McGehee dissenting—to exempt the store from an Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW), a requirement that had held up the project, because, as some members said, a previous ...

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Two Previous District Department of the Environment Workers Sentenced to 12 ...
LoanSafe
(Source: FBI) – Joe L. Parrish, 52, and Gregory A. Scott, 60, former inspectors at the District of Columbia Department of the Environment (DDOE), Air Quality Division, were sentenced today to one-year prison terms for demanding and receiving $20000 in ...
2 former workers at District Department of Environment sentenced in bribery caseWashington Post
2 former workers at District Department of Environment sentenced in bribery ...The Republic

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Women for a Healthy Environment Hosts Fragrance-Free Day
Patch.com
In honor of Fragrance-Free Day on Tuesday, Women for a Healthy Environment will host a free webinar on workplace policies and a community celebration in Market Square today, Tuesday. Women for a Healthy Environment is a coalition of women representing ...

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