My grandfather strongly believed that bulk, unsolicited mail as an inexpensive way to reach potential customers, no doubt a belief strengthened by his career in advertising. The sheer wastefulness of sending thousands and millions of mailings to potential customers who immediately threw it out upon receipt did not concern him, his concern was reaching that one new customer who was somehow unaware.
The United States mostly defers to corporate rather than individual best interests which results in absurdities. Junk mail continues in (I assume) record numbers. Opt-out rather than opt-in for receiving emails. Adding your self to the federal do-not-call registry, with a built-in expiration. Manually blocking third-parties from seeing your credit scores as a step to offering credit cards. Consumer beware!
While traipsing around Amsterdam today, I started noticing these stickers on many doors and mailboxes.
Apparently this is a Dutch thing: nee-nee means that no unaddressed, bulk mail and no hand-delivered fliers are accepted, nee-ja means no unaddressed, bulk mail but hand-delivered fliers are OK. An upcoming national database will remove the need for the stickers; already in Amsterdam, nee-nee is the default if no sticker exists.
How fucking cool is that? Every day we received junk mail, often the only mail delivered, and have wondered how much we recycle each year. I’ve considered an art project created by all the junk mail received in a year, but immediately realize I’m not an artist and the meaning would be lost on most people. Kudos to the Netherlands for taking this very necessary and desirable action.
The irony is that, in today’s increasingly digital world, the amount of legitimate physical mail received is trivial, making it ever so obvious that most is junk. Some countries are even reducing or eliminating home mail delivery. I can only dream of the US doing positive or forward-looking.
