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How Does Junk Mail Affect the Environment?
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Key Topics You'll Learn About in This Article
- What junk mail is and why it’s environmentally harmful
- The difference between paper junk mail and digital spam
- How to reduce or stop receiving unwanted mail
The internet has proven itself to be a double edged sword, as it helps us to connect with people all around the world, host remote work to improve business productivity, and look up information in a split second – but certain facets of the internet, such as junk mail, aren’t as beneficial to people or the planet.
Junk mail refers to either paper or electronic mail that is delivered to you without you knowing or wanting it to be – making unuseful or “junk” in your eyes, and can contribute to waste and an excessive carbon footprint.
In this article, we’ll explain what junk mail is, the different types of junk mail, how junk mail can affect the environment, and what you can do to prevent junk mail from increasing your carbon footprint.
What is Junk Mail?
Junk mail refers to excessive or unwanted mail, either paper or digital, which is delivered to you either in your physical mailbox, online inbox, or spam folder.
For many, junk mail is viewed as an annoyance and unnecessary – as it is often promotional mail, insurance offers, or catalogs delivered to one's inbox without the recipient’s consent or request.
“ Discourse is fleeting, but junk mail is forever. – (Joe Bob Briggs) ”
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When Did Junk Mailing Lists Start?
Unbeknownst to most, junk mail has been around since before computers – having started in the mid to late-nineteenth century when advertising agencies would bombard clients with newspaper ads, labels, and more.
Once the digital age rolled around, this traditional spread to the internet. According to Microsoft, the first piece of junk mail was sent in 1978 – and as of 2025, roughly 45% of all emails are considered spam.
The timeline below will breakdown how spammers get your email and attempt to scam you with phishing emails:
:envelope_with_arrow: You Sign Up Somewhere
Your email gets added to a newsletter, giveaway, or app sign-up — and sometimes resold without your knowledge.
:sleuth_or_spy: Info Gets Shared or Hacked
Spammers grab emails from data leaks, breached accounts, or even scraped public websites like LinkedIn.
:incoming_envelope: You Get a Fake Email
The scam email arrives looking like something you trust — like Netflix or your bank — with logos and formatting copied perfectly.
:warning: It Asks for Urgent Action
The email says your account will be closed or charged unless you "log in" or "update payment" — using a fake link.
:link: You Click the Link
If you click, you’re taken to a fake site designed to steal your login, payment info, or identity — often without realising.
The Problem with Unwanted Mail
The problem with unwanted mail is that it often poses itself as a real request to pay for a service you are already subscribed to, such as a money order payable to your favorite streaming service or cosmetic company exclusively online.
Think about it – let’s say someone sends a giant cake to your doorstep everyday. At first, you may enjoy getting that cake – but overtime, it becomes irritating because it is something you have to deal with everyday. Eventually, you’ll start throwing the cake away – contributing to unnecessary food waste that doesn’t need to be created and could easily be mitigated if someone stopped sending cake to you on a daily basis. The same goes for junk mail – as people who send and receive junk mail are indirectly negatively impacting the environment whether they want to or not.
The flip cards below (move cursor over card to flip) will provide examples of junk mail:
:credit_card: Credit Card Offers
Unsolicited pre-approved credit card applications often flood your mailbox, even if you never asked for them.
:shield: Insurance Deals
From home to auto coverage, insurance companies send mass mailers offering “exclusive” limited-time quotes.
:mega: Political Campaigns
During election season, your mailbox can overflow with flyers urging you to support specific candidates or causes.
:house: Real Estate Mailers
Agents send postcards asking if you want to sell your home — even if you’re not in the market.
It is important to remember that junk mail is sent through both postal and electronic mail, the latter more often being referred to as, “spam” – but regardless of where junk mail is sent, it is often an irritating part of anyone’s day. In addition to this, junk mail can impact productivity and organisation – as it crowds both our physical and digital inboxes
According to the Economist, historical evidence allows us to conclude that junk mail began with industrialisation and the growing culture of consumerism, as junk mail serves as a way for companies to relentlessly and shamelessly promote their product, service, or campaign without the need for “permission” from anyone.
Which is Worse For the Planet: Junk Mail or E-mail?
Both junk mail and junk email are bad for the environment, but ultimately – we can infer that paper junk mail creates a greater ecological impact than junk email does.
The reason why paper junk mail may create more of an ecological impact than junk email in the long run is because once paper is created and thrown away, it can’t be undone. On the other hand, junk email, while still contributing to an excessive carbon footprint – can more easily be controlled long-term.
The battle cards below will break down the differences between junk mail and junk email:
:mailbox_with_mail: Junk Mail
Physical advertisements like credit card offers, flyers, or political mailers sent to your home address.
:envelope_with_arrow: Junk Email
Digital spam messages sent to your inbox, often flagged by filters — including scams, ads, or phishing attempts.
:package: Environmental Impact
Paper waste, printing, and transport make junk mail more damaging to the planet.
:zap: Energy & Privacy
Junk email has a smaller footprint but can overload servers and compromise data security.
:mag: How It Finds You
Comes from mailing list purchases, past purchases, or registering with your physical address.
:computer: How It Finds You
Harvested from leaked data, online signups, or third-party tracking pixels in websites and apps.
:wastebasket: How to Stop It
Use mail preference services or opt out via websites like DMAchoice.org.
:no_entry_sign: How to Stop It
Mark as spam, unsubscribe from lists, or use email aliases and spam filters.
Did you know that it takes 1.7% of the energy used to create and send a paper letter than it does to send an email? This reveals the astronomical environmental impact we create by sending emails and other forms of digital messages on a daily basis.
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What is the Difference Between Paper Junk Mail and Junk E-Mail?
The main difference between the environmental impact created by paper junk mail and digital junk mail is that paper junk mail depletes our natural resources and contributes to deforestation, whereas digital junk mail takes up excess energy and data storage.
Impact of Paper Junk Mail
For instance, paper junk mail destroys over 100 million trees every single year – which is a massive problem seeing as the United States and other countries across the world have struggled to implement an effective recycling program.
Impact of Junk E-Mail
On the flip side, junk email can overwhelm digital servers and waste energy. This is because it requires electricity and the eventual use of data storage to send and receive emails, and seeing as over 150 billion spam emails are sent a day – the environmental impact is huge.
It is important to note that the environmental impact of an email is bound to vary depending on the attachments of the email or which servers the message is being sent to, whereas the carbon footprint of paper junk mail can be more easily calculated.
Why is Junk Mail Bad for the Environment?
Junk mail is bad for the environment, seeing as it can have an impact on wildlife, contribute to deforestation, deplete natural resources, utilise excess energy production and consumption, and create a massive carbon footprint.
Seeing as junk mail requires extensive energy production to process paper, it’s about more than what happens after junk mail is disposed of – but how the entire process of creating and sending out junk mail impacts the environment in different ways.
“ Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spam every day. Much of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick. It would be funny if it weren't so exciting. – (Bill Gates). ”
Here are some of the different ways that junk mail impacts the environment:
- Impact on Wildlife – Unbeknownst to many, paper junk mail has an impact on various species due to the need to cut down additional trees for paper production – which destroys their habitats and can even threaten their existence.
- Deforestation – Paper junk mail can’t be created without trees, meaning that junk mail directly contributes to deforestation. If we stopped producing paper junk mail, the up to 100 million trees that would be unharmed would help to absorb 1.7 million tons of carbon dioxide each year – which is something that the world desperately needs in the midst of climate change.
- Urbanisation – Seeing as deforestation leaves behind barren land, junk mail may indirectly provoke further urbanisation – creating more cities which will emit excessive amounts of carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions.
- Excessive Energy Consumption – In order to both produce and dispose of unwanted paper junk mail, insurmountable amounts of energy are required. In fact, according to the European Mail Industry Platform, the printing industry accounts for 1% of all global emission – much of which is bound to come from junk mail.
- Depletion of Resources – It isn’t only paper that is used when producing junk mail, but other resources such as plastic for laminating fliers, coupons, or brochures or ink being used to print text and images on junk mail. In fact, according to the VoLo Foundation, waste from junk mail creates a massive 51 million metric tons of greenhouse gases every year – which is about the same amount of GHG emissions created from nine million passenger cars.
- Overwhelming Data Servers – When it comes to digital junk mail found in the spam inbox of your email account, too much junk email can overwhelm your email account – as more electricity and energy will be required to store all of the excess emails on a data server. According to McAfee and ICF International, it is estimated that each junk email can emit up to 0.3 grams of carbon dioxide emissions.
The summary cards below will explain how paper junk mail and e-mail separately impact the environment:
:page_facing_up: Paper Junk Mail
- Contributes to deforestation :deciduous_tree:
- Creates tons of landfill waste :wastebasket:
- Uses water and energy in production :droplet::zap:
- Emits CO₂ during printing & delivery :truck:
:e-mail: Email Junk Mail
- Consumes server energy :zap:
- Generates hidden e-waste from data storage :desktop_computer:
- Often ignored, but still leaves a footprint :earth_africa:
- May increase digital clutter & device load :iphone:
Overall, both paper and digital junk mail have a profound impact on our environment – and ultimately contribute to continued climate change.
How Else Does Junk Mail Affect Us?
While Junk mail is certainly bad for the planet, it also isn’t great for our everyday lives either – seeing as junk mail can have a negative impact on our mental health, productivity, and community engagement or cooperation.
Here are a few ways in depth that junk mail could have on your daily life:
- Impact on Community: Junk mail could create issues amongst the community or strife that wouldn’t otherwise be there if it weren’t for the persuasion of junk mail.
- Loss of Time: People can spend precious time weeding through junk mail from their mailbox or deleting spam emails from both their work or personal emails.
- Reduced Productivity: Studies have shown that people with less clutter in their homes are bound to benefit from improved mental health: such as by feeling happier, reduced anxiety, and having improved focus. This means that having less junk mail, whether it be on your kitchen table or in your digital mailbox, can help to increase your productivity.
- Increased Anxiety or Paranoia: It’s no secret that in today’s day and age, our phones and computers are tracking our activities on the internet – constantly curating content that algorithms know we will be more likely to engage with. However, the negative side of this is that it can trigger increased anxiety or other mental health issues – as people will feel like the internet can track their every move.
- Irritating Allergies: Did you know that excess paper, such as from newspapers or junk mail, can contribute to paper dust and ultimately more allergies in your home? This is a major reason to try to mitigate the amount of paper junk mail in your home, as junk mail can have a direct impact on your health.
Seeking to reduce junk mail is important for our mental health, physical health, and most importantly – to protect the environment in the midst of climate change.
How to Stop Junk Mail: Reduce the Environmental Impact of Mail or E-mail
Luckily, you don’t have to just sit back and watch your inbox fill up with spam email or spend your weekends sifting through the fliers or credit card applications that came in the mail – we can all do things to avoid junk mail such as by unsubscribing to mailing lists or seeking more sustainable ways to market a product or service.
“ The harmful impacts stem from paper production’s demand, energy usage, and the improper disposal of mail that ends up in landfills, which generates methane. Transitioning to paperless communication, avoiding unnecessary subscriptions, and opting out of printed materials are some needed actions to take. – (VoLo Foundation). ”
unk mail may seem like an inevitable part of your daily routine, but the truth is – there are many ways to reduce the amount of junk mail you receive and ultimately reduce the carbon footprint from your junk mail.
Here are some tips to remove various types of junk mail from your inbox:
Tips to Reduce the Impact of Paper Junk Mail
- Opt Out of Mailing Lists: Most people are unaware of the many different organisations that work to remove your company’s address from junk mail lists, such as by registering at the Association of National Advertisers’ (ANA) website DMAchoice.org. While the service isn't free, and will cost $6 to join, your account will remain active for 10 years – and you'll be able to choose which types of you want delivered to your door. Ultimately, DMAchoice will make sure to avoid junk flyers from being mailed to their customers' doors.
- Recycle: If you’re still receiving new junk mail, always be sure to properly recycle it if you do get a bunch of unwanted junk mail delivered to your house.
- Call Your Postal Delivery Service: Some countries like Switzerland have allowed people to deny potential junk mail to be delivered. It’s worth a try to call your local post office or mail delivery service to see if they’ll do the same – after all, it gives them less work to do!
Tips to Reduce the Impact of Digital Junk Mail
- Unsubscribe: Every once in a while, it’s a good idea to sit down and go through your email and decide which mailing lists you actually read and which ones are best to unsubscribe from, as sometimes – registration for emailing lists is done without your content. This requires manual time and effort to review your current email list subscriptions.
- Delete Emails: Although this may seem self explanatory, it really will help to reduce the stress felt upon serves that save all of that data from your emails – even the ones you read once and never opened again.
- Mindfully Send Emails: Be mindful of the attachments you are sending via email, and if they can be shared via an external hard drive or flash drive if possible – or by using another cloud sharing service. This way, the email isn’t forwarded numerous times and has a place on the internet to be viewed without creating a massive ecological footprint via email.
How to Stop Credit Card and Insurance Offers
The easiest way to stop unwanted credit card and insurance offers from being delivered to your door is to sign up for DMAchoice Consumer Preferences, which is run by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) – which is a separate service from the United States Postal Service.
The drop down sections below will provide some ways you could stop junk mail of all kinds: from paper, digital, to credit card and insurance offers:
:wastebasket: Opt Out of Credit & Insurance Offers
:arrow_forward:
Visit OptOutPrescreen.com to stop pre-approved credit and insurance offers from arriving in your mailbox.
:mailbox: Stop Paper Flyers & Catalogs
:arrow_forward:
Use services like Catalog Choice or contact retailers directly to remove your address from flyer and catalog lists.
:e-mail: Unsubscribe from Email Spam
:arrow_forward:
Scroll to the bottom of spammy emails and hit “Unsubscribe” — or use tools like Unroll.Me to bulk-manage email subscriptions more efficiently.
:octagonal_sign: Register for Mail Preference Services
:arrow_forward:
Sign up for DMAchoice.org to stop receiving junk mail from national advertisers and marketing groups — it’s a central opt-out hub for paper ads.
Alternatives for Companies to Promote Their Product or Service without Junk Mail:
- Social Media: These days, your company is more likely to catch people’s attention with a video on Tik Tok than with a junk email or flyer in the mail. Therefore, a great alternative to sending out junk mail is to create social media channels and share the benefits of your product, service, or campaign via an online platform.
- Host New Events: Junk mail is often sent in order to persuade someone to invest their time or money into something. A great alternative why not create an actual event to invite the people who you believe may find what you were sharing with them via junk mail to be useful.
- Advocate for Responsible Marketing Practices: It’s important for your company to share the importance of sustainable marketing practices in order to mitigate future junk mail.
Overall, junk mail isn’t only a nuisance – but something we need to rectify in order to effectively fight against climate change. The good thing is, we all have the power to implement at least one of these mitigation strategies to help fight the impact junk mail has on the environment.
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What About Greenly?
If reading this article about junk mail and how it impacts the environment has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
Keeping track of junk mail in your company that can contribute to excessive emissions can be challenging, but don’t worry – Greenly is here to help.
Click here to schedule a demo to see how Greenly can help you comply with all of the upcoming regulations relevant to your company.
Greenly can help you make an environmental change for the better, starting with a carbon footprint assessment to know how much carbon emissions your company produces.
Sources
World Economic Forum https://www.weforum.org/stories/2018/05/its-40-years-since-the-first-spam-email-was-sent-here-are-6-things-you-didnt/
The Ephemera Society of America https://www.ephemerasociety.org/junk-mail-is-nothing-new/
Microsoft https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365-life-hacks/privacy-and-safety/what-is-email-spam
Mailmodo https://www.mailmodo.com/guides/email-spam-statistics/
The Economist https://www.economist.com/babbage/2013/07/19/messages-from-the-past
8billion Trees https://8billiontrees.com/carbon-offsets-credits/carbon-ecological-footprint-calculators/email-carbon-footprint/
MES Hybrid Document Systems https://blog.mesltd.ca/junk-mail-destroys-100-million-trees-every-year
Block Sender https://blocksender.io/how-many-spam-emails-are-sent-per-day/
The Magazine of the Sierra Club https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/let-s-ban-junk-mail-already
European Mail Industry Platform http://www.emip.eu/images/PDF/brochure.pdf
VoLo Foundation https://volofoundation.org/news/fighting-junk-mail-is-helpful-for-the-environment/
ICF International https://www.siskinds.com/wp-content/uploads/carbonfootprint_12pg_web_rev_na-1.pdf
WIO News https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/lifestyle/news-relieves-anxiety-sharpens-focus-7-remarkable-mental-benefits-of-decluttering-566491
Federal Trade Commission Consumer Advice https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-stop-junk-mail
IAmExpat Switzerland https://www.iamexpat.ch/expat-info/swiss-news/law-submitted-which-hopes-reduce-flood-junk-mail-switzerland