Stop Junk Mail

Stop Junk Mail is a self-funded, not-for-profit junk mail advice service. This website provides free, independent, and objective information about stopping unsolicited mail.

How to stop junk mail

Junk mail is a pest. It's an environmentally damaging and rude form of advertising, and one that's surprisingly difficult to eradicate. To be sure, it's possible to ban junk mail from your life, and it won't cost you anything. But… it's going to take some time and effort.

Depending on how much time you want to spend cutting back on junk mail you can do the following:

If you just want to know how to stop a particular type of junk mail you should try the Wishing Tree. By answering a few questions about the junk mail that's bothering you the Wishing Tree can tell you how to stop it.
If you're determined to ban junk mail from your life completely you should make yourself a cup of coffee and read the Guide to Stamping Out Junk Mail. It's a bit of read but following the steps in the Guide will reduce unwanted mail to just the odd leaflet.
If you have any specific questions about (stopping) junk mail you may want to consult Dr Junk Buster.

'Tick off' petition

When you give your name and address to a potential junk mailer you should always tick any opt-out boxes you find in the small print. Or should you? Wouldn't it be fairer if you were 'opted out' by default?

An illustration of a professor looking into a microscope. By Eloise O'Hare, (c) 2011. — "Dr Junk Buster has discovered an opt-out box."

Have you ever wondered why junk mailers always try to hide opt-out boxes? It's because they can do with your personal details as they please if you fail to tick the box. This is an aggressive form of marketing that could easily be stopped.

Here's the proposal… let's change the Data Protection Act so that marketeers are only allowed to present us with opt-in boxes. It's a simple change that would prevent people from unwittingly giving marketeers permission to send them junk mail and sell their personal details to anonymous list brokers.

If you feel the idea makes sense, please consider signing the petition below. For more information about the petition, please see the Petition page and/or the Tick Boxes page in the Manifesto.