Week 7: Mass Direct Mailings ... Seriously. Still?

Several years ago, in my effort to become a responsible and sustainable patron of mother earth, I made the decision to unsubscribe to the MANY direct mailing/catalogs I was receiving. It was just too much of a waste... And a temptation to spend. I also choose to do my billing electronically, in my continued effort to save the planet and eliminate excessive waste. However, the previous tenant in my apartment not only never paid her bills or speeding tickets, but clearly had a massive shopping addiction. It's amazing how you can get an idea of the type of person someone is just by looking at their mail... Anywho, the point is, I get a TON of catalogs flooding my mailbox on a daily basis. I've also made numerous attempts to return to sender as well as inform my postman that Tina Gr***om does not live here any longer and she probably should know she has several outstanding speeding tickets... I can only assume as I know better than to open other's mail! :)

I digress... So when discussing media from an ethical point of view, I want to consider the ethical responsibility companies have to our environment. The "Green Movement," is here to stay. I don't see it as just a popular trend. Society is concerned. Many companies have caught on to this and are figuring out ways to capitalize on the popularity of being a green patron of society. I think that is brilliant. Make money and do good. I'm all for it. What I don't understand is how companies can ethically continue to send out catalogs in the mass quantities that they do when the Internet makes shopping much simpler and greener.

 The biggest violator of mass mailing? Victoria's Secret. They take it to the extreme. Not quarterly, or seasonal, but BI-MONTHLY catalogs... If not more. Sometimes weekly. The frustration comes when I recognize that they are basically the same catalogs with different covers. I didn't want to buy that $85 bra last week, and I still don't this week. Catalogs advertising end of season sales, then clearance, then Christmas, and Spring, and Swim, and Swim Brazil. It's just plain crazy. I don't even have the chance to look at one before another 2 show up in my mailbox. If that is not enough to keep their brand in my mind, then they send me quite obviously expensive mailings with $10 off coupons every month. Its overkill, and frankly has ruined my appreciation for the brand.

According to a 2009 post on greenamerica.org, VS was sending 400 million catalogs a year... That's more than 1 million a day. http://www.greenamerica.org

There I found another site called victoriasdirtysecret.net which was actively aiming to get VS to change their mailing policy. Where a popup explained that VS had "cleaned up their act."
Uhh... According to who?

Now, if you go to their website, they have an online catalog. The exact same thing. Seriously. Exactly it. Where you can flip through it just as if you were holding it in your hand.

The screenshot below shows the option to choose a current catalog:

Then choose which pages you want to scroll to, or you can just browse normally:

So they have already made an adaption to become "green," yet I feel like the number of mailings have grown. Why has no one targeted this and made it an issue? I get that women like to see it in their mailbox, go inside, flip through, and circle/ear-mark items they are interested in, but seriously... Cut back on the amount. Once a month even. Promote your online catalog availability. Trust me. Women (and men) will still shop there. Check yourself Vicky.

VS is one of 6 companies under the Limited Brand, who's mission statement regarding the environment is as follows:
"Sustainable Success:  Our Environmental Responsibility
 We believe in doing what is right in our industry, our community and our world. This includes conducting our business in an environmentally responsible way. To this end, we are always looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact. We are working to shrink our footprint through better natural resource management. We’re helping to reduce the demands on our forests by promoting sustainable materials in our catalogues. And we’re introducing programs to reduce our energy consumption and reduce or reuse materials whenever we can. Together with our manufacturers, suppliers, partners and customers, we’re helping to support a healthier planet."
 Limited Brands

Bottom line... Not good enough.

If you are have the same problem as me go to http://donotmail.org to request that you no longer receive junk mail and unwanted catalogs.