I use to hate getting junk and snail mail every day. 

It’s very rare that a day goes by without us getting some form of mail in our mailbox.  It’s possible to contact each mailer of junk mail and request that they stop sending you the junk mail and they have to, but that won’t totally stop it…  And besides, there are other type of mail that you get in your mailbox that isn’t junk mail, like various types of bills and banking/checking/investing account statements, etc… 

So I decided at the beginning of this year to see if I could put a spin on this mail waste in some way that it might benefit me!  Surprisingly, I was able to, especially for the back of the envelopes!  

Here are a few of my uses and suggestions: 

• Use them to jot down ideas for blog topics (my favorite use).  They are the perfect scratchpad for brainstorming .
• If you use a knife to open them, you can use them for holding coupons (I don’t do this yet, but I would if I did).
• During research for investments, jot down the company and ticker, current price, dividend, and date of the stock.  Put then in a pile to be reviewed when making investment decisions.
• Use the envelopes to keep score when we play games like yahtzee, greed and certain card games!
• For the similarly sized envelopes, I keep a few in a small stack in the drawer by the phone and use them to take messages on.
• After doing the suggestions above, use the envelopes as part of your garden compost pile, if you do gardening.  While it won’t add up to much, it will complete the cycle (as in recycling) and is very green!  Make sure you don’t include any envelopes that has a plastic see through window!

The main idea is that the back of the envelopes has a plain white surface, perfect for jotting something down on! 

While reusing envelopes may seem small and trite and not worth it, I say “Why not“? 

You are doing the environment good by not sending the envelopes directly to the junkyard, and squeezing an extra use out of something that is effectively trash! 

Can you think of additional uses for your junk mail (or junk mail envelopes)?  If so, please respond!  I’m always looking for better ways to use them!  Humorous responses are welcome too! 🙂

-D