Stop the junk mail
The government is mulling the future of Hongkong Post and is expected to launch a public consultation on the merits of privatising it. Whether Hongkong Post remains a public body or a privately operated service, let’s make sure its revenue model does not include income from sending us junk mail. The postal service has coped well with the Information Age, compensating for the loss of regular mail with the introduction of highly efficient courier services. It can continue to thrive without relying on junk mail as a revenue generator.
Let’s make sure the government knows we don’t want any more junk mail: click on the anti-junk mail icon on the right to sign our petition.
The following list divides offenders into two categories:
- those that deserve eggs on their faces for mass-mailing advertising material; and
- those that deserve eggs AND tomatoes on their faces for mass-mailing advertising material wrapped in or laminated with plastic and/or packaged in such an elaborate way that they can’t even be recycled.
For information about what to do with junk mail, please scroll to the bottom.
Eggs:
Academic AsiaAllied Pickfords
Alfa House Company Limited
Bals Tokyo
Bodytune Spa
CB Richard Ellis
Centaline Property Agency Ltd
Citibank
Cityplaza
Concord Wines
DBS
DR Spa
Discoveries Learning Centre
Eastmount Property Agency
Element Skincare Center
Everpure
Evian
GuerlainHK Visual Arts Centre
Healthy Medical Consultancy
Hong Kong Homes
HK Institute of Languages
Hong Kong Language Learning Centre
Hongkong Storage
Igor’s Group
Instant Access Properties (Hong Kong) Ltd
International Herald Tribune
IPAC Oasis
Kai Shing (REA) Limited
Ken Sir
King Sturge
Land & Fortune Realty
Landscope Realty
Lane Crawford
LeBelledePeau
Macau Jockey Club
Mark Lin, District Councillor
Marriot Vacation Club
Michele Boutiques
Midland Realty
Matilda Hospital
Moon Gallery
NTK Learning Center
Open Air 2007 Events
Pacific Coffee
PCCW
Premier Medical Centre
Prestige Hi Fi Limited
Public Bank
Sanaco Jewellery
Standard Chartered Bank
Tasaki Jewellery Salon
Treasure Auctioneer Ltd
Treshei
Wealthy Realty
Widex Hong Kong Hearing & Speech Centre Ltd
Wise Studio
Yves Saint Laurent
Eggs and tomatoes:
Amatokin
Brack Capital Real Estate
Caffe Vergnano
Citi Creation Int’l Development
Club Med
Dell Computer
Dr White
Exebeaute
Hysan
Knight Frank
Landscope Realty
Landmark Asia Realty
Master Golf Fashion
Mercedes Benz
Mission Hills Golf Club
Ravenel
Ricacorp Properties
Sino Group
Sogo
Venetian Macao, The
Wai Heng Group
Wealthy Realty
Finally, eggs, tomatoes and rotten oranges for Hongkong Post, for providing this junk mail service. Surely in this Information Age there must be greener ways of generating revenue??? And what to do with the junk mail you receive? There are two options:
Return them to the sender. Let them know you don’t want the junk mail.
First remove staples, laminated covers, plastic windows and adhesive tags then put the recyclable portions in the paper recycling bin. Try to tear leaflets that feel thick or reinforced; if they won’t tear then they’re laminated and are un-recyclable. Have the eggs and tomatoes ready instead.
Persistent offenders
How much is the cost of bombarding people with reams of information about flats for sale or lease? Next to nothing, compared to the money property agents stand to make from a single transaction, which is why they are the most persistent junk mail offenders. Other junk mail senders may use HK Post once in a while, but junk mail from property agents come through everyday. So this is what I’ll do next: save up a pile of this junk and send them back to the respective MDs of the property agencies. They may not care about one individual doing it, and they obviously don’t give two hoots about the trees, but if enough people do it, they just may pay attention, so, want to join me?
A reader has suggested: 1) calling each offender and asking to be removed from their list; and 2) complaining to building management about the junk mail, presumably so they can stop people dropping it in the mailboxes. The problem with (1) is that the majority of junk mail received is not addressed to anybody, but I do take the point about calling the offenders to complain. The problem with (2) is that it’s actually illegal to refuse mail delivered by a postman. Which is why HK Post deserves all the rotten vegetables, because the law forces junk mail offenders to pay for its services rather than just hire a messenger to dump leaflets in mailboxes.