ProQuo: Get just the junk mail you want to get

There are two types of junk mail haters. The first type want it all gone. They may wage a personal, time-consuming war against it -- or even hire companies to wage that anti-junk mail war for them. Either way, they get their mailboxes cleaned up in 4 - 12 weeks, letting unfelled trees breathe a collective green sigh of relief.

The second type are the kind that say they hate junk mail but don't actually do anything to get rid of it -- usually because there's one piece of junk mail they want to keep getting. It's amazing what people will put up with -- and what they're willing to do to the environment -- simply for a coupon for free iced tea with a pad thai order.

But enough eco-guilting: Now you can get your free iced tea and downsize your mailbox too -- easily. ProQuo, a FREE anti-junk mail website, lets you quickly opt out of -- or opt in to -- mailing lists.

ProQuo reduces all different types of junk mail, from weekly circulars to marketing lists to ValPak envelopes. All you have to do is create a profile, and you'll get a full screen of different lists you can opt out of:

For most lists, simply clicking on the "stop" button will let you ditch that mailer. But some lists do annoyingly require you to either mail in a printed form, or go to their site to input your info again. In these cases, ProQuo will give you a little "Action Required" popup that either lets you download a PDF letter you can just print or send, or gives you a link to send you to that outside site.

How is this awesome service free, you ask? Well, the key thing here is that ProQuo lets you opt IN, as well as opt out. If you click over to the catalog section, you'll see a whole lot of popular catalogs. If you simply want to opt out, you can -- but if the Victoria's Secret catalog lures you into getting more junk mail, well then you can opt in too. The opt-inners' contact info's then sent to that mag -- and ProQuo makes money in the exchange.

That said, your contact info will NOT be sent to any random magazines. To get on Vicky's list, you have to specifically select and hit "I want to start receiving this catalog" for Vicky's.

If that opt in OR out option bothers you, there's also Catalog Choice, which lets you just opt out of catalogs you don't want. However, while this site does let you get rid of catalogs at a click, Catalog Choice doesn't remove your name from general junk mail directories or get rid of any of the non-catalog flyers and mailers.

Whatever method you opt for, remember that it'll take one to three months for your mail box to really clear up. Next up: How to get rid of junk mail with even less effort than ProQuo -- for a price.

Comments

[jmayle]

I am using stopthejunkmail.com to stop my mail. They have a large database of direct mail items and catalogs. Also allows me to stoop the nasty credit cards and other direct mail items. I like this service cause it is one stop stopping of over 9000 direct mail and junk mail items.

[m]

If you live in an apartment building with a community mailbox area, it may be worthwhile to post this proquo url nearby with some info. I know I've run into tons of people in my building that check their mail and immediately toss everything. They had no idea there was a way to make the junk mail stop.

[Will]

The most efficient instrument for reducing wasteful junk mail would still be a registry, because it would allow mailings from companies with which you have a prior business relationship, i.e. you've purchased something from them. Just as you could go to one of the sites mentioned above and select some catalogs you think you might want, you could go to that catalog's website, actually buy something, and then be on their list. That way, paper is only used if you're actually interested in what that company is selling. No guessing involved.

No matter what our personal preferences, we should all support a Do Not Mail registry to give choice to the citizens who want to completely opt-out of a wasteful and unneccessary cycle: donotmail.org .