You can call it direct mail, you can call it junk mail, but the real question is, can you ever call it green?  An article in The New York Times tells us that some direct marketing companies, along with their clients, are trying to move in that direction.   Called the Green Marketing Coalition, these companies are trying to establish best practices standards to make mailings more environmentally responsible.

Direct mail isn’t going to go away any time soon - the Times notes that the practice creates an average of $12 in revenue per dollar spent.   However, the Green Marketing Coalition claims to be doing what it can to make the process cleaner.   However, according to the Times,

So far, the coalition’s guidelines are long on earnestness and short on truly new ideas. They include using chlorine-free recycled paper, proofreading marketing materials using Adobe PDF files rather than hard copies, and taking advantages of tax benefits that come from certain green initiatives.

They also suggest better “list hygiene,” which is to remove dead people and non-responders from the list. The Postal Service, as well, has attempted to green these mailings.   It’s website “now lists green tips for marketers, like letting people easily opt out of mailings, using water-based inks and recycled materials, and encouraging customers to recycle the mailing after reading it.”

However, the article also notes that neither the Coalation or the USPS has set specific goals or timetables for any changes.   Environmentalist response has been, we are told, is one more of “amusement” rather than “outrage.”

‘It’s hard to argue against any well-intentioned effort to use more recycled paper, but the idea of greening junk mail is still a bit like putting lipstick on a pig,’ said Todd J. Paglia, executive director of ForestEthics, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting forests.

Of course, some might argue that Miss Piggy, for example, is quite striking, but I think that would be missing the forest for the trees (pun intended that time).

To opt out of direct mailings, you can spend a good amount of money on some private services, or you can takepart and opt out on a less reliable basis, but it only costs a buck.