Let’s ban unsolicited circulars and junk mail to reduce environmental damage and litter. We have laws against littering. Junk mail is really just a form of littering citizens' private property - their letter boxes.

It makes no sense that householders have to pay money for a no junk mail sign on their letterbox. Instead, advertisers can provide free “Junk mail welcome” signs to those that want junk mail.

In Wellington, there is a petition to ban junk mail: http://www.wellington.govt.nz/haveyoursay/e-petitions/ep/details/88

Big sign on recycle bin next to letterbox: UNADDRESSED MAIL GO HERE

I personally would rather have unaddressed nail delivered to my mailbox then have someone on a high horse harrass me at my own front door to my own house trying to get me to do a survey and stick a sticker on my letterbox.

The catalogues are fantastic, in these times they are a great way to plan grocery trips and find out who has the best specials on certain items.

And if you have a look at the paper the catalogues are printed on, alot of it is now on recycled paper.

As Dawn #34 said, sometimes people do put the stickers in odd places, I was out today delivering some flyers to advertise my own business as I had some time to kill, and found a few signs that weren't particularly close to the letterbox slot, like on the fence half a meter away. I personally hated getting junk mail when I was in CHC with a no junk mail sticker, so I'm careful about where I put it myself. Real Estate agents on the other hand do seem to be the worst offenders. I regularly called or emailed them to tell them, most didn't really seem to care. Certainly some of the deliverers don't care too much, they just want to get paid at the end of the day (and probably not have to carry so many spares home with them).

To Flip #36, re addressed junk mail: To get your details removed from mailing lists, go to marketing.org.nz and click the Do Not Mail link on the right hand side. Complete the form and within a couple of weeks you should see a reduction in addressed junk mail. No, it won't completely remove the problem, but 'reputable' marketing companies who are members of the Marketing Association should stop sending you stuff. The website also has a Do Not Call register too. Note that you need to complete the form for each person living at your address

I deliver junk mail and papers for PMP. In our contract we can't deliver junk mail to 'no circulars' etc but we can put local papers in. If the sign says 'addressed mail only ' then we can't put either in.

In response to #32. Why bother to use their pre paid envelope... Chuck them all into one envelope and send it to the worst one with a covering letter and insufficient postage.

I live in a small flat in Remuera and for some reason in this neighbourhood a LOT of junk mail is delivered, more so than in other areas I've lived in.

Quite stupid that at the bottom of emails you sometimes see: "Please think of the environment before printing this email". Only to have your letterbox overflowing with useless junk mail every day.

Hi,

The Letterboxer website is at www.letterboxer.org.nz. If you live within Canterbury and want a sticker, just follow the instructions on the first page.

To answer someone's question in the comments below, some regions have by-laws covering junkmail in New Zealand. The rest of the country has to make do with a voluntary code of practice written by the Marketing Association of New Zealand.

Thank you all for such an impressive display of support for the cause.

Cheers, Andrew Horton.

Re the Mitre 10 sign - the standard ones sell out first and this is often your only option. So sneaky...