What's the Carbon Footprint of US Junk Mail?

We all know the pain. Coming home after a long day of work, only to find your mailbox stuffed to the brim with junk mail. Trying to sort though it can be a hassle, and especially disappointing when you're waiting for something important to arrive. I mean, we can only be told the latest pizza and carpet cleaning deals so many times before it just gets old, right?

Considering that trees are needed to produce all of that junk mail paper, have you ever wondered what kind of toll this is taking on our environment? Well, Matador Change did a little research about the effects of removing all those trees in terms of the carbon footprint, and the results are shocking. Basically, 100 million trees are used each year to produce the nation's junk mail. These trees could offset up to 48,000,000 pounds of carbon emissions, the equivalent of the emissions of 480,000 cars!

So, by eliminating junk mail, we could help offset up to 480,000 cars' worth of emissions. That's a pretty hefty number, if you ask me. To read more about the carbon footprint of junk mail, visit Matador Change. Also, to find out more about how to eliminate your junk mail, there are several sites such as Eco-Cycle trying to cut down on the junk mail behemoth.