Catalogs are a tradition over a century old.  They were a means of shopping back when our social mobility was more limited, and large populations could be served by mail from central warehouses using this ‘virtual’ storefront.  Catalogs were the ‘Internet shopping’ of their day.  In fact, there is much ‘synchronicity’ between catalog mailings and Internet shopping.  We’ve seen a reprint of a Sears Roebuck catalog from the early 1900s, advertising violins for $15 and pianos for $100.  Ah, for the ‘good old days’!

We’ve come a long way from those times.  And now the ubiquitous catalog is sent out by companies large and small, in staggering volumes, almost indiscriminantly.   We haven’t found an estimate for the number of catalogs sent out annually, but the magazing Catalog Age alone estimates that its subscribers send out a whopping 15.9 billion catalogs each year.  Aside from the massive footprint of paper use, printing, production, transportation and waste processing that these catalogs represent, there is the additional footprint of all the things purchased from these catalogs.  Now hold on!  We’re not saying don’t buy anything.  But we are asking you to begin to discriminate between what you need and what you simply desire, a distinction which is scarcely made in modern society.  This fertile topic is covered on our page on Needs vs. Wants.

So the simple global warming solution we present there is to cancel those catalogs.  Call the companies who’s catalogs you receive and ask to be taken off their mailing list.  When buying something online or over the phone, be sure to stipulate that you NOT be sent the company’s catalogs.  And just as important, get in the habit of asking that your information not be sold, traded or exchanged with any other companies. 

Another approach to reducing your catalog burden is contained in the ClimateCorps page on Junk Mail.