Junk Mail

We've always gotten quite a bit of junk mail, but since we bought our house last year, our junk mail levels have reached new highs. In any given week 2-3 companies want to sell us mortgage protection, our mortgage company wants us to refinance and/or take out a home equity loan, a handful of local business want to take care of our lawn, and other churches, banks, pizza companies, and grocery stores want to welcome us "to the neighborhood."

We bought a buffet from IKEA to put in our kitchen/dining area/entry way from the garage mostly to catch the junk mail that was taking over the kitchen table, but even thought we were actively recycling and had a paper recycling bin steps from the back door the number of thinks that went in the "to be shredded" piles were taking over our lives.

A couple of weeks ago I was watching some news program that was talking about identity theft and the need to shred all of that junk mail. The person suggest that everyone keep three things in their mail area: a shredder, a trash can, and a *small* basket for important mail. This bothered me for several reasons. 1) How many people actually have enough space for all three of those things and who really wants a shredder to be the first thing people see when they walk in . 2) Why not mention recycling any of those items at all.

Recently, I've tried a new system. I'm not going to move the shredder from the office to the kitchen, but I've added a small white trash can that is "too be shredded." When it's full, I shred. Unlike the marathon shred fests that we used to have when the piles took over the downstairs, I don't allow myself to get that behind. Since the trashcan hold almost the exact amount as the shredder, I shred then bag it and put it with the recycling that we take on the weekends. More importantly, since the shred trash can is near the regular paper recycling, I've now gotten in the habit of opening the junk mail and separating the must shred parts from the random paper.

My only discovery/obstacle in this has been the fact that when we have people over, we must either explain the system or hide the shred trashcan. I spent the better part of last week pulling banana peels and other items from my shred can.