Is it possible to opt out of the mailing of local supermarket circulars?

Question

It seems like such an enormous waste of trees and resources to mail these useless local fliers out, when the majority of people who receive them, throw them out.

Answer 1

Depends where you are.

In Canada, you can put a sticker on your mailbox that says "No flyers.", or something similar.  It is then illegal for any agency to dump something in your mailbox if it is not specifically addressed to you.  If someone ignores it, you may also call the flyer delivery agencies and tell them to take you off their list.  There is also a national address that can have you taken off ALL the lists.

Very few flyer printers use recycled paper.  It is new, live trees being cut down in the thousands to send you that unsolicited mail.

I have had a sticker on my mailbox for years, and the only unaddressed mail I receive is the local community newsletter.  And I called them to get it.

http://www.junkbusters.com/junkmail.html

This from "JUNKBUSTERS Junk Mail Headlines

How you can gain control of your mailbox

Tell the Direct Marketing Association you don't want unsolicited mail from their member companies. They now require you to pay a dollar for this, either by credit card online or by check or money order in the mail. The draft letter produced on our web site gives you an option to complain about the fee; the one on the DMA's web site for their Mail Preference Service (MPS) doesn't. We also have a page of opt-out letters to companies that sell your address and other personal information to junk mailers.

When dealing with a company or charity that knows your address, tell them ``Don't rent or share my name.''

Read our extensive guide on how mailers get your name, how they decide what to mail you, and how to stop them pestering you. Note that filling out warranty cards puts you in fast lane of the junk information superhighway.

If you are really annoyed with solicitations mailed to you by any company, you can issue a ``prohibitory order'' against them. If they continue to send you their junk, they risk being prosecuted as criminals.

If you want source documents describing your legal rights, start with our collection of the laws, rules and regulations governing direct mail. "

Answer 2

nope... you can't opt out of it.

Grind them up and add them to your compost heap.