How it Works

What is Letterboxing?

Letterboxer volunteers ask people one on one to change their lifestyle by giving up junkmail. We make it as easy as saying "Yes". In doing so Letterboxer not only saves junkmail from being distributed and in turn trees from being logged but is assisting New Zealand culture to progress towards sustainable living.

What's the catch?

There's no catch. The stickers are free for you. They're paid for by city and regional councils like Environment Canterbury.

How bad is junkmail?

The average home receives 70kg worth of junkmail every year. 17 trees go into the production of 1 tonne of paper, so that's 153,000 trees for all Christchurch's junk mail.

Why is junkmail bad if it can be recycled?

Recycling isn't a sustainable solution because the same paper can only be recycled 5 times. Some junkmail won't be recycled, 28% of Christchurch landfill is recyclable material and some of this is junk mail.

What's the law regarding junkmail?

There's no New Zealand law for distribution of printed mail or faxes but we have the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act which covers email, instant messaging, TXTs & PXTs of a commercial nature. It does not cover faxes, Internet pop-ups or voice telemarketing. The Department of Internal Affairs enforces this and has an Anti Spam section on their website.

Industry Code of Practice

Almost all junkmail distribution companies belong to the New Zealand Marketing Association. Members voluntarily adhere to the Code of Practice - Distribution of Unaddressed Mail.

The code states that :

2.1 - Unaddressed mail, including brochures, flyers and business cards, must not be delivered to letterboxes where a sign requesting non-delivery is displayed;

2.2 - Unaddressed mail and free newspapers must not be delivered to letterboxes displaying an "Addressed mail only" sign.

What can I do when they ignore my sticker?

Phone the New Zealand Marketing Association helpline between 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday for complaints or queries regarding unaddressed advertising on 0800 111 081.

Contact the advertiser directly to inform them their distributor ignored your sticker or sign and ask which distributor they use.

Letterboxer Survey Script

This is the survey script that Letterboxers should always stick to. It's designed to be quick, polite and persuasive.

Introduction

"Hi, I'm Andrew from Letterboxer, a non profit organisation giving out free no junk mail stickers supplied by Environment Canterbury."

Question 1.

"How much do you like Junk Mail? Would you say you Strongly dislike it,dislike it, neutral, like it or love it?"

Note their answer on your sheet as 1 (Strongly Dislike) to 5 (Love it) and continue to Question 2.

Question 2.

"Would you like the free no junk mail sticker?"

If they say no then skip to Question 3.
If they say yes then say,

"To prove to Environment Canterbury that every one of these stickers is going good use we're putting them on peoples letterboxes for them. Would you like me to put it on your letterbox now?"

Question 3.

"Can I have your email address to tell you more about what we're doing and to gain access to coupons and specials? We will send you only one email."

If they say yes, then write down their email address.

End the survey

"Thank you for your time"

Volunteer Now

Simply fill in the volunteer form and you will be contacted by phone.