Junk Mail and Beyond

I am actively continuing my quest to receive zero (or close to it) junk mail. Since last time, I have gotten rid of the following:

• LL Bean
• Bed, Bath & Beyond
• Kay Jewelers
• JCPenney
• Eddie Bauer
• Victoria's Secret

I've had a few mailings with no instructions on how to get off the junk mail list. For these, I just go on the website and email customer service. So far, it seems to be working as I'm getting email replies indicating I have been taken off the list. (Yes!)

On a separate, but related note, we had our dear Apple David and Care Bear visiting us for the weekend. We spent most of the weekend celebrating the season with good food and drink including glögg and pepparkakor. On Saturday evening, we exchanged gifts. Apple D and CB must have been reading my blog (hi guys!), because they decided to go shopping at Ten Thousand Villages for a lot of our "familiy presents." We received several cookie mixes and the like from an organization called Women's Bean Project. This organization is focused on helping women out of poverty by teaching job readiness and life skills. Very cool!

However, my favorite present was a necklace from Junk Mail Gems made out of recycled junk mail! Their motto is "Starve a landfill...Buy Junk Mail Gems!" It makes me so happy when people find a way to use at least some of the waste that we create every day. The necklace itself is fun and versatile. In fact, I'm wearing it today!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.