If your mailbox is full of junk mail and your email is full of spam, it’s time to give yourself the gift of an uncluttered holiday.
The average household receives 848 pieces of junk mail and 44 percent of it is thrown away unopened, according to an analysis by New York University.
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Sorting through piles of mail and emails is time consuming and often frustrating, but there are ways to cut down on junk and spam.
A full mailbox is what Dan Roadhouse of Miami Twp. said he was dealing with regularly.
“So much stuff I mean the mailbox would be crammed full of stuff,” he said.
He was annoyed by all the sorting, chucking it into the recycling bin, and the environmental impact. So he found Catalog Choice, a free service with two million users. It helps people opt out of junk mail.
“It’s been dramatic,” Roadhouse said.
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Other opt out services include direct mail, do not mail list, and apps like Paper Karma. Roadhouse said seeing his junk mail disappear inspired him to keep going.
“That mentality carries through and you start getting rid of spam email,” he said.
Forty-five percent of all email sent is spam and it amounts to over 14 million spam email messages being sent every day, according to Spamlaws.com
Zach Davidson of Net X Computers explained the easiest ways to stop spam email. “Just go into an email, hit unsubscribe. Mark as spam. Anything that does come across that you might think is spam, Google it before you open any attachments that might be in the email or click on a link.”
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You also can purchase spam blockers like Spam Bully for Outlook, for about $30 a year.
Roadhouse said his inbox, and real mailbox, are much more manageable now. “It’s helped a lot.”