9 Awesome Uses for Junk Mail

By Jordan Laio, Networx

Most people don’t give a second thought to tossing junk mail in the recycling bin. But with over 100 billion pieces delivered annually, some savvy recipients are seeing it differently. Instead of seeing junk mail as junk, they see it as a gold mine. As the saying goes, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.

For this reason, some people order as much junk mail as they can. I once read about a man who burned his junk mail. He received enough of it to keep his house warm all winter. In another vein, JunkMailGems.com strictly sells products made from re-purposed junk mail.

Here is a list of creative and useful things you can do with your junk mail. Of course, take into consideration the different types of paper used in junk mailings and chemicals that may be in adhesives or inks:

UTILITY

1. Burn in Place of Wood

Yep, you can do it too. Stay warm in the winter by a fire made of all that junk mail. Just throwing it in the fireplace won’t be too effective, but by using a product like the Newspaper Brick Maker (about $30) you can make paper bricks that will burn like real wood.

2. Use as Packing Material

Sure, dehydrated mushroom mycelia and plastic pillows filled with air are both good green packing material options, but why not use your bounty of junk mail? Just run it through the shredder and use to ship or store fragile objects.

Image: victor.ramos/Flickr

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Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Samantha H.

6:29AM PDT on May 14, 2012

thanks

send a green star

Dale O.

7:50PM PDT on Apr 27, 2012

Well gee thanks Sundeep S, we really had to see your comment how many times or do you do that to get an extra twenty points each time you do that-who knows? We only need to read it once.
Burning junk mail in the fireplace is likely doing to release toxic fumes into one's home.
Certainly the idea of cat toys is fun as many cats will chase and play with crumpled papers more than some of the expensive toys purrchased for them!
Too bad there is not a solution of the junk mail sent to our in boxes! No matter how many times one uses the "Sweep" feature to filter them out they just change the numbers on their future mails and the same companies send the same junk e mails as before. Especially the dating sites that do not even get my sex right!

Pat W.

10:55PM PDT on Apr 25, 2012

thank you for the ideas

Carole R.

6:39PM PDT on Apr 25, 2012

Some good ideas here. Keep the post office in business.

Patricia H.

7:08AM PDT on Apr 25, 2012

thanks for sharing

Grainne O.

7:05AM PDT on Apr 25, 2012

Junk mail keeps me warm!