Talk:ForestEthics

May 5 2008 - Phone call between Anne Landman and Will Craven of ForestEthics: Will said that ForestEthics is calling for a registry that exempts nonprofit and political mail. Will states that the Post Office claims it is currently losing $1 billion per year without a Do Not Mail list due to cultural, technological and sociological changes such as email. He argues that Fed Ex and UPS hurt the U.S. Mail, but that no one is protesting these services or arguing that they should not exist. He points to Japan as a country that has eliminated its junk mail but still maintains a postal service. Will argues that the U.S. Post Office is a for-profit entity that is charged with providing a service to citizens that, like any for-profit business, is subject to customer demand. He believes they should be more responsive to what citizens want, rather than clinging to a business model that is sinking them. Although Do Not Mail list legislation has been introduced in 18 states, ForestEthics was only involved in the effort in one state: Vermont. He points to this as evidence of consumer demand for a solution to junk mail. ForestEthics does not explicitly seek federal legislation to address the junk mail problem, however, and is open to other ideas and policies that would offer a comprehensive, accessible national solution.