I should have been on WordPress back in ’06. I went to the first WordCamp and barely knew enough to be there. At the time, WordPress sounded like more than I wanted to tackle. However I’m starting to get the hang of it and actually prefer it over Typepad. If you jump in with both feet it starts clicking.

Anyway, quick little green earth story. Denver has a cool recycling program. Recently the program stepped it up and replaced my old tubs with a huge purple bin. One collection area that takes paper, metal, plastics, & even cardboard!

I make a game of it and see how long it takes to fill it up. The more I put in, the more clutter I’m getting rid of. The less I have to keep track of.

Nothing is safe. Magazines, junkmail, user guides, business cards. They all have found their way into the bin. One aspect of this that has struck me was how much junkmail I receive. So much that I’ve begun calling the senders and requesting to be removed from their lists.

Mailing house stalwart L.L. Bean had multiple solutions to reduce the communication. Less experienced direct marketers are baffled that I don’t want to hear from them via snail mail anymore. If the objective is to simplify things by reducing paper and clutter, it’s imperative to get off the USPS grid. Just about everything that I need to know is online. If it’s not, it will be soon.

Three things you can do to drastically reduce the clutter.

1. Start Recycling. Sounds easy. But why don’t more folks consider changing simple habits? On my block less than 50% of the eligible homes participate.
2. Request to be removed from Dex Media Delivery (you know the people that send you 6 phone books a year) 800-422-8793
3. Check out privacyrights.org They can help you stop the madness. My favorite and most effective step was contacting the Direct Marketing Association’s list. I did this about a year ago and within two months the grocery stores were stopped. Those folks are serious junk mailers….imagine if they stopped and just put the money back into lowering their food prices?