Growers and Grocers

You remember junk mail, right? It’s that stuff that comes in the mail that you don’t want—the credit card offers, the catalogs that companies send you based on similar purchases and buying your name off a list, and other assorted postal flotsam and jetsam. Sometimes we’re so inundated by spam and more careful about our electronic information, which does not leave a carbon footprint and can be disposed of with a click of “delete,” that we forget that we need to shred, shred, shred, and in the case of other items, recycle.

But there are tangible, physical costs associated with that paper trail, apart from the risks of identity theft. According to ProQuo, a company that aims to help you manage and eliminate your junk mail and protect your personal information, 250,000 homes could be heated with just one day’s supply of junk mail. And the average American adult receives 40 pounds of junk mail annually. By reducing the amount of paper that comes into your home, you’re naturally helping the environment.

To that end, ProQuo recently launched an educational and humorous contest to educate people about these issues and to generally raise consumers awareness. The top ten videos were recently selected and posted; ProQuo wants viewers to judge the entries, too.

One of the entries, by David Wolfe, highlights the dangers of identity theft. If this has ever happened to you, you know it’s not a laughing matter, but Wolfe’s video, “ID Theft,” puts a funny twist on the event: a couple argues, his identity is stolen, but he’s replaced with a superior version of himself. Another video, the sad but endearing animated “Poor Eddie,” imagines the perspective of the trees who remain after their tree friend Eddie has been cut down. The clever “Sick Mailbox,” likens ProQuo to a drug and therefore cheekily resembles a pharmaceutical ad. The shortest and perhaps most effective is the 20-second “Devil Deal,” which most closely mimics the tone and pacing of a legitimate commercial.

The brief spots guide viewers to the company’s web site, where for free you can sign up for their services to manage and, within several months, stop your junk mail entirely. It’s an easier and a more efficient way of taking on the task yourself.