AOL: Stop Sending Wasteful Metal Junk Mail

WorkingForChange.com ^ | June 20, 2002 | Site staff

[spald]

AOL: Stop Sending Wasteful Metal Junk Mail

Center for a New American Dream

America Online's aluminum junk mail is in a class all its own. The company's newest gimmick is to package its disks advertising free hours of online access in a metal box. This ''metal mail'' is a central part of the company's $3.8 billion annual ad budget and really takes a toll on our nation's energy security and on our environment. The boxes require an extremely energy-intensive manufacturing process that exacerbates climate change as well as our dependence on coal and oil. And, this junk mail is filling up our landfills.

Aluminum production consumes more energy than is needed to produce steel, glass, paper or plastic. It also relies on bauxite mining, which destroys more of the earth's surface area than any other type of mining.

To make matters worse, AOL frequently uses ''current resident'' mail that offers citizens no way to opt-out from receiving the unsolicited advertising.

Call to action

Urge AOL's Steve Case to conserve energy and help the environment by reforming his company's junk mail practices.

Deadline: Ongoing

[spald]

A liberal activist group, WorkingForChange oftentimes solicits visitors to write emails to focal recipients. In this case, WFC requests you send your envirnomentaol concerns to Steve Case at AOLTimeWarnerCNN. I have a ball over here so I thought some FReepers would like the same.

[dd5339]

I like the AOL junk mail. The CD's make great targets for my shotgun!

Semper Fi!

[balrog666]

The boxes require an extremely energy-intensive manufacturing process that exacerbates climate change as well as our dependence on coal and oil.

Moron alert!

And, this junk mail is filling up our landfills.

Correction, non-recycling moron alert!

[Khepera]

Metal cases? Cool! Hope I get mine soon.

[Paul Atreides]

I always liked it when AOL sent their software out on floppy disks. I erased the diskettes and then used them for storage. Now, I just throw away the cd-roms and keep the cases.

[Travis McGee]

I hang those nice shiny AOL CD's all over my docked sailboat. They swing and spin and flash in the sun, and scare the guano birds away.

[dead]

You can sharpen the edges and then fling the disks, like Chinese stars, at liberals.

EEEEEYah!

[Xenalyte]

They also make excellent coasters, and wonderful drink-toppers if you have thirsty and non-discriminating felines.

[dheretic]

That's why we have bb guns

[mhking]

Ah, leave 'em be! They make great coasters! [g]

[Britton J Wingfield]

A friend of mine asked for a case of AOL demo-disks to hand out. He had enough floppies for a couple of years after that.

[Travis McGee]

Try that in Kali and you will get 25 to life.

[ArrogantBustard]

They also make excellent coasters,

Only for hot beverages. I get 'way too much condensation on iced tea glasses for the CDROMs to be useful. It just flows all over the desk, and causes the CDROM to stick to the bottom of the glass. Most annoying. Travis has a good idea though; maybe they'll scare our feathered enemies away from my garden.

[dheretic]

Wouldn't work at my house. My cat has been known to open the cabinet to get his cat nip out.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

Does AOL REALLY have a "3.8 BILLION" dollar annual ad budget? I suspect that this is off by three orders of magnitude.

In any case, I love those free CD's and boxes- keep them coming, AOL!

[dheretic]

That reminds me. I heard this on Fox News the other night, "In this city, which some refer to as The People's Republic of Santa Monica....."

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

One of my wife's cats has figured out how to open kitchen and bathroom cabinets- now, if the dog figures out the doorknob principle, I will be very worried!

[Travis McGee]

You mean I didn't envent it first?

Seriously, when you hang them from strings they spin and swing and flash like mirrors. Birds HATE them.