No junk mail, please!

I am appalled by the large amount of junk mail our household throws into the paper recycling bin every day, unread. It is a sheer waste of resources.

It is not only the paper itself, but all the associated materials and processes that go into producing, transporting, distributing, and then disposing of all these unsolicited flyers, brochures, magazines and pamphlets that are deposited into each letterbox every day and end up being thrown away, often unread (hopefully in a paper recycling bin, but often as general waste).

I understand that there is a marketing and commercial aspect to junk mail, but there has to be also an associated environmental responsibility.

What about the ‘polluter pays’ principle? Are companies levied disposal surtaxes to discourage them from using such wasteful forms of advertising? Or is the disposal something taxpayers pay for?

Furthermore, are households allowed to affix a ‘no junk mail’ label to their letterbox, and will Maltapost and other advert distributors respect it?

In an environmentally conscious and responsible nation, the competent government agency would take the initiative to make available a standard ‘no junk mail’ label for all those households that are not interested in receiving it, and want to play their part in keeping waste to a minimum.

Because, of course, the first step in a proper management of waste is its minimisation.

We have become so accustomed to collecting junk mail from our letterboxes and disposing of it straight away that we consider the whole thing as normal, hardly realising how wasteful and harmful such a practice is to our environment and, ultimately, to our wellbeing.

Therefore, before embarking on costly and complex ways of managing our waste, the first step is to take relatively simple measures to minimise it.