KPLU Local News
(2010-01-24)
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Flickr photo courtesy Dvortygirl
"From the city's perspective, it becomes garbage that we have to dispose of, and we have to pay for disposing of it," he says. "And even if it's recycled, recycling still isn't as good as not having it in the waste stream at all."
Conlin says exact numbers aren't available, but he estimates Seattle residents dispose of several million pounds of junk mail each year. He's proposing a council resolution that asks the state to create a registry along the lines of the popular "Do Not Call" list. He says a "Do Not Mail" list would save the city money and reduce waste.
Dan Sturgeon says it would also hurt his business. Sturgeon is with Star Printing in Seattle. He says about 18 percent of his revenue comes from printing direct marketing materials.
"It would definitely have an impact," he says, "not only to the sales of our clients and how they feed their revenue stream, but it has a direct impact on the number of employees that we would probably be able top keep here are at Star Printing."
Postal workers and businesses that rely on mail marketing are also pushing back. The Direct Marketing Association - a national trade group - has been organizing Seattle-area businesses and labor groups in opposition to the city council resolution.
Consumers are weighing in, as well. Justin Rolfe-Redding is with the local group Zero Waste Seattle. He's not convinced that the industry-run opt-out system makes a government registry unnecessary.
"What we need at the end of the day is a system that's enforceable, that gives people options about who they want to get their mail from and allows them the confidence to know that their wishes will actually be carried out."
Similar "Do Not Mail" proposals have been tried in more than a dozen states and several cities. So far, only San Francisco has passed it.
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