A RESOLUTION urging the Washington State Legislature to establish a Do Not Mail Registry and directing Seattle Public Utilities to encourage their customers to use existing commercial mail opt-out services.

WHEREAS, the amount of unsolicited direct mail delivered in the United States each year has substantial environmental and social costs that can be significantly reduced by the creation of a Do Not Mail Registry; and

WHEREAS, the production, distribution, and disposal of unsolicited direct mail contributes to climate change by producing 51 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually equivalent to that of 10 million automobiles at a point when current environmental challenges demand significant and urgent reductions in our carbon footprint; and

WHEREAS, the amount of paper required to produce the 105 billion pieces of unsolicited direct mail distributed each year in the United States1 requires the annual harvest of approximately 100 million trees2 that, if left standing, would act as important carbon storehouses; and

WHEREAS, approximately 44% of all unsolicited direct mail arrives in landfills unopened3, thereby placing unnecessary stress on our waste disposal systems; and

WHEREAS, unsolicited direct mail burdens the waste disposal systems of the city and reducing unsolicited direct mail will help meet Seattle's citywide goals of landfill diversion; and

WHEREAS, unsolicited direct mail burdens the recycling capacity of the city and reducing unsolicited direct mail will help recycling efforts within the city operate more efficiently; and

WHEREAS, at least two commercial mail opt-out services are available through private organizations but the number of households using those services is limited, in part due to limited public awareness of the availability of those services; and

WHEREAS, the requested statewide Do Not Mail Registry would be modeled after the national Do Not Call Registry, which is the most popular consumer rights bill in history; and

WHEREAS, 89% of likely voters nationwide voiced support for a Do Not Mail Registry in a 2007 nation poll conducted by Zogby International4; and

WHEREAS, a multitude of states have proposed Do Not Mail Registry bills including Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont5; and

WHEREAS, the success of statewide Do Not Mail Registries will pave the way for an equivalent registry at the national level; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE THAT:

Section 1. The Seattle City Council urges the Washington State Legislature to establish a Do Not Mail Registry to provide residents of the City of Seattle and Washington State with an effective, user-friendly system to voluntarily stop the receipt of unsolicited commercial direct mail to their property.

The Clerk of the City Council shall forward a fully conformed copy of this resolution to Washington's state legislative delegation as well as the President Pro Tem of the Washington Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives of Washington.

Section 2. The Seattle City Council directs Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) to evaluate existing commercial mail opt-out services operated by private organizations. The evaluation should seek to identify services that offer a large selection of businesses for which customers can register an opt-out request, provide confirmation of a customer's opt-out request, do not have unnecessary expiration dates after which reregistration is required, and protect customer privacy. SPU should report the results of its evaluation to the City Council by June 30, 2010, with the intent that SPU will actively inform its customers of commercial mail opt-out services that meet the above-listed criteria including the solid waste reduction possible through the use of such services. Any information encouraging near-term solid waste reduction through the use of commercial mail opt-out services should not substitute for a state Do Not Mail Registry designed to reduce solid waste through the state over the long-term.

Adopted by the City Council the ____ day of ____________________, 2010, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its adoption this________ day of ______________________, 2010. _________________________________ President ___________of the City Council

Filed by me this ____ day of ________________________, 2010. ____________________________________ City Clerk

1 United States Postal Service (USPS). "The Household Diary Study: Mail Use & Attitudes in FY 2006." March 2007, pp. 1.

2 New American Dream calculation from Conservatree and U.S. Forest Service statistics.

3 41pounds.org: http://41pounds.org/impact/default.asp.

4 New American Dream: http://www.newdream.org/about/pdfs/junk_mail_release_oct.pdf

5 Direct Marketing Association, "State Do Not Mail Bills 2007," available at: http://www.the-dma.org/donotmail/2007legislation.sthml, accessed October 7, 2008

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