Do Your Part, How to Be and Live Green in Charlotte, NC

Most of us still hold out hope for something good in the mail - but what we usually end up with is a whole lot of junk. In fact, a third of all mail is considered junk mail. Want to stop it? I sure did.

Here's a good place to start: donotmail.org. This organization is all about raising support for a national do not mail registry - similar to the do not call registry that keeps telemarketers from calling your home. It also has some useful links to getting your name and address off some of the biggest junk mail lists.

For all the magazines that fill up your mailbox, visit catalogchoice.org. It's a free service that will let you opt out of receiving the magazines you no longer use.

And speaking of no longer using...when's the last time you really needed a phone book? While you're on a roll to stop all the unwanted mail - what about those phone books we all get a couple times a year. In fact 500 million of them are sent to homes and businesses each year! If you don't want them - you don't have to get them. Call your telephone company directly or try a site called yellowpagesgoesgreen.com and they'll do the work for you.

Cutting down on junk mail or other paper we just don't need or use is an easy way to Do Your Part. It'll take you just a few minutes and you'll see results in your mailbox in just a few weeks!