Greening Your Direct Mail

Prepared by Ted Hart CEO of GreenNonprofits.org, a new guest blogger for TechSoup.org.

GreenNonprofits.org's mission to help your organization adopt green practices. Here are seven things you can do to GREEN your direct mail:

1. Regularly update and improve your mailing lists to limit duplication and waste.
2. Design your mailings to be recyclable, by printing with water-based inks, on uncoated paper stocks, and sending windowless envelopes.
3. Print on both sides of the paper to save resources and reduce mailing costs.
4. Use recycled materials for the mailings you create.
5. Allow donors to opt out of your mailings to ensure you're not sending them unwanted mail.
6. When buying paper, use the Sustainable Forest Initiative search engine to find paper and paper related supplies that meet standards for environmental, social, and economic forest values — from water quality and biodiversity to harvesting and regeneration.
7. Encourage your donors to recycle the mailing once they've read it, and tell them how you made your mailing as green as possible.