Something nice for a change. While looking for an image that could accompany my rant about the My DM website (see RIP My DM?) I remembered that the British Library had asked me a couple of months ago if the Stop Junk Mail website could be added to its UK Web Archive. The archive, as I understand it, aims to take snapshots of (hopefully interesting) UK websites. Put simply, they take a full copy of a website and add it to a massive online graveyard of websites. Anyone interested (or just bored) can then see exactly what a particular website looked like at the time it was copied. Something quite useful for future historians, I reckon. At some point in the future historians will be asked to explain what possessed people in the late 20th / early 21st century to chop down trees, turn them into paper advertisements, and then push all that nonsense through other people's letterboxes. (In case any future historian reads this, the answer is greed [greêd, noun, an intense and selfish desire for something]).

I didn't find My DM but was please to see stopjunkmail.org.uk had just been added to the archive…

From today the Stop Junk Mail website is stored on an 'eco server'. I'm not completely convinced it will make that much of a difference. There are many shades of green [Hyperlink to greenplanet.com removed in June 2012 as the page that was linked no longer exists - JB] and all too often products are eco friendly in name only. Junk mail is no exception; it puzzles me that anyone can think unsolicited junk mail and sustainable aren't necessarily mutually exclusive - yet sustainable junk direct mail is one of the marketing industry's favourite buzz phrases at the moment.

Anyway, to compensate for carbon emissions produced by the server the new host (Eco Web Hosting) is planting trees in Ransom Wood Business Park, Nottinghamshire. A business park!? Well? yes, but apparently quite a green one [Hyperlink to randsomwood.co.uk removed in June 2012 as the page that was linked no longer exists - JB], with excellent connections to M1 junctions 28 and 29.

Okay, I'll stop being sceptical now.

The 'sting in the tail of the Royal Mail deal', the Independent called the scrapping of the three items per week rule. The news that Royal Mail will soon be allowed to deliver unlimited amounts of leaflets has caused quite a stir. In itself that's a bit odd; few people knew that there even was a union deal limiting the amount of leaflets delivered by the postman. But the news that junk mail may be on the rise again was enough make people flock to Junk Buster in their thousands.

My personal view on the issue didn't go down that well with the various radio and television programs that contacted me during the week. As I mentioned on Tuesday, I'm not that concerned about the scrapping of the cap on leaflets delivered by postmen as such. I never really understood why there was a cap in the first place; it seems rather artificial and anti-competitive. That said, I do feel it's a shame that Royal Mail is still extremely reluctant to respect householders who do not want to receive leaflets from the postman. The company does the absolute minimum to advertise the existence of its Door-to-Door Opt-Out and householders often find that signing up to the scheme makes no difference whatsoever. I reckon that if Royal Mail would make some simple improvements to its opt-out scheme the deal would be a fair one; those of us who don't want to receive leaflets would have an easy way of saying 'no, thank you', and people who enjoy receiving unsolicited leaflets would get more of them.

Journalists don't like this view. Too nuanced, probably. The public expects people to say that's it all outrageous. I did get a couple of minutes on Radio 5 and was asked to write 200 words about the evils of junk mail in general for the Independent, but other journalists told me quite openly they where looking for opinions that are wholly negative.

Still, the Door-to-Door Opt-Out did get a mention here and there. In particular, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the BBC website included for instance this question in its junk mail quiz:

How many people are thought to have opted out of receiving such items?

The answer is: less than 1% of UK households (not 'people', as the Door-to-Door Opt-Out registers households rather than individuals). Or, to be more precise, in 2008 the percentage was less than 0.5%. Royal Mail tries hard to keep the exact figure secret so we simply don't know how many households are opted out at the moment.

Another question in the quiz is:

You can opt out of receiving the phonebooks delivered by Yell, Thomson Local, BT and other companies: true or false?

The answer, as you know, is true. Unfortunately, the Beeb did not mention that you can contact the three above-mentioned polluters all in one go via Junk Buster. But still, it's all useful and important information for people wanting to put their letterbox on a diet.

As for me and Stop Junk Mail / Junk Buster, one thing I've learned this week is that the campaign could do with a spokesperson. If you're a genuine junk mail hater and able to represent the campaign on radio and telly (usually at very short notice), I'd love to hear from you!

While I'm writing this nearly 10,000 people have used Junk Buster to contact opt-out services. A milestone to be proud of but no more than that - the aim is to add an extra two zeros to the figure!

Looking back at how Junk Buster has fared so far I have to say it has been an interesting adventure. It started with the Direct Marketing Association - the organisation behind the Mailing Preference Service and the Your Choice Scheme - trying to prevent being contacted via Junk Buster. In the debate that followed they got themselves in a bit of a muddle and after the launch of Junk Buster V2 the representative of the junk mail industry had to accept that there's nothing they can do to stop a free one-point-stop for contacting opt-out schemes.

Directories were initially equally reluctant to accept opt-out requests. None of the directories that can be canceled via Junk Buster (the Yellow Pages, Thomson Local and BT Phone Book) has ever advertised the existence of its opt-out schemes. I used to ask people like Adam Billiard BSc (Hons) Msc etc. - Environment Manager at Yell - why directories don't tell people that they can opt out of receiving directories. The reply was always that directories receive very few opt-out requests. Thanks to Junk Buster that tautology is no longer true; over the last couple of days Yell received over 2,000 opt-out requests via Junk Buster alone. The Data Publishers Association has now publicly acknowledged that all UK directory publishers maintain an opt-out scheme, and Thomson Local has at long last set up a system (sort of) to deal with the many opt-out requests the company receives. There's no way back now; sooner or later directories will mention that people can opt-out.

All good news then? Well, no. The Direct Marketing Association is at it again. They have started sending an e-mail to people requesting a registration form for the Mailing Preference Service saying this:

Due to environmental reasons MPS no longer produces registration forms. You can register with our FREE service via our website: www.mpsonline.org.uk or by calling the automated registration line on 0845 7034599.

They must have had a good laugh when someone suggested to cite environmental reasons for the decision; they're cynical like that. Of course I won't let the Direct Marketing Association sabotage the opt-out machine. Work is underway for Junk Buster V3!

When the Data Publishers Association (DPA) learned that local councils would today be starting a campaign aimed at encouraging householders to opt out of receiving directories, the representative of directory producers told the Daily Mail:

"All UK directory publishers maintain an opt-out scheme that enables consumers to choose not to receive a printed directory. The number choosing this option is tiny."

I reckon the DPA will regret this obviously misleading comment. The reason why relatively few people have so far registered with the opt-out schemes is because they're so bloody obscure. Yell, Thomson Local and BT don't advertise the existence of opt-out schemes in its directories, nor can any information be found about them on the companies' websites. Only yesterday, one of the DPA's more prominent members - Thomson Local - for the first time publicly acknowledged that people can cancel directories! To suggest that few people opt out because the public can't get enough directories is really rather arrogant.

I'm saying this in the knowledge that when the distribution teams of Yell, Thomson Local and BT open their e-mail on Monday morning there'll be over a thousand opt-out requests sent via Junk Buster sitting in their inbox. As far as I'm aware the LGA's campaign has so far only been mentioned in the Mail and Telegraph (and the latter didn't even mention Junk Buster) but the opt-out machine has been working relentlessly since. If that's the result of just two news articles then it's clear that the are heaps of people who would prefer not to receive paper directories.

For a long time paper directories got away with ignoring householders with no need for paper directories, but the times they are a changing'… It would be really good to keep the momentum going. Only if people let directory companies know that their books are not welcome at their address will they start taking 'consumer choice' seriously. So, do opt out - it's as easy as tapping your name and address into Junk Buster. Tell friends and relatives about the opt-out schemes. And, if you feel strongly about paper waste, sign the 192.com petition [Hyperlink removed as the 10 Downing Street petitions website no longer exists - JB] for an opt-in scheme for directories.