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DCL
As a writer, I often am sent things that arrived to me unsolicited. On the one hand, this can be a nice surprise. But lately, it's been driving me crazy. I've begun to think about all of the waste involved in something like this. If I'm sent a cd for an artist without being asked, for instance, it can be frustrating. This seemingly innocent practice wastes natural resources, my time, the sender's time, the artist's time, and, generally speaking, contributes to a wasteful society filled with clutter that we need to work against in order to be green.
So how does this apply to you?
This may easily apply to your job. If you're frequently asked to, or volunteer to, send out items to business partners and clients without first seeking their permission, try to change this. No one wants to receive 'junk' mail and even though you may see the importance in whatever you're sending, it may simply be junk mail for someone else.
Why not take the extra time to email people prior to snail-mailing them. You'll save your own resources this way and avoid burdening someone else with more trash than they asked for.
Think your boss won't be down? Try helping him or her to see how much money they'd save on packaging and materials if they weren't wasting it on those who don't want it.
Think about it!
