Every dollar spent on direct marketing will return almost $12 in sales—that’s a higher return on investment than other, nondirect mass communication methods. By using the right strategies and resources, you can create an effective campaign that has a minimal impact on the environment.

• Regularly update and improve your mailing lists to limit duplication and waste.
• Use research to effectively target your customers. Folks who live in apartment buildings, for example, probably don’t need lawn services.
• Allow customers to opt out of your mailings to ensure you’re not sending them unwanted mail.
• Use recycled materials for the mailings you create.
• When sourcing paper, make sure that it comes from forests managed with practices certified by independent, third-party organizations such as the Sustainable Forest Initiative (www.sfiprogram.org) and the Forest Stewardship Council (www.fsc.org).
• Design your mailings to be recyclable, too, by printing with water-based inks, on uncoated paper stocks, and sending windowless envelopes.vPrint on both sides of the paper to save resources and reduce mailing costs.
• Ship your products with USPS Cradle-to-Cradle^SM certified packaging, and encourage customers to save energy with USPS delivery.
• Encourage your customers to recycle the mailing once they’ve read it, and tell them how you made your mailing as green as possible.

Want to evaluate the environmental impact of your marketing process? With help from the DMA you can. Complete the checklist and generate an environmental action plan and/or policy for your company.