Last but not least: The advertising deniers
A Hamburg-based communications agency has calculated how much paper and energy are consumed by the advertising mailings that end up in German mailboxes—or in the trash as soon as they pass through them—each year. Impressive.
A Hamburg-based communications agency has just calculated that around 1.3 million tons of advertising mail end up in German letterboxes every year. This corresponds to around 2.4 kilograms per household per month. In comparison, the total annual consumption of paper in Germany is around 21 million tons, meaning that advertising mail accounts for around 6 percent.
According to the agency, the ecological consequences of the bulging German post boxes are catastrophic. It takes about the same amount of energy to produce one ton of paper as it does to produce one ton of steel. The comparison may be a little confusing in the internet age, but it sounds like a lot. In addition, the 1.3 million tons of paper used for advertising mailings produce about as much CO2 as 840,000 cars every year. That is quite impressive.
The analysis by the Hamburg-based company also showed that more than half of this advertising mail is thrown away unread. In addition, the number of advertising refusers (those with stickers on their letterboxes) in Germany has now risen to 20 percent. In many large cities, the figure is even as high as 50 percent. It goes without saying that the agency is promoting itself as an efficient alternative following this dismantling of direct mail. However, the figures themselves do not exactly indicate a high degree of efficiency in the advertising that ends up in letterboxes.
According to the agency, the ecological consequences of the bulging German post boxes are catastrophic. It takes about the same amount of energy to produce one ton of paper as it does to produce one ton of steel. The comparison may be a little confusing in the internet age, but it sounds like a lot. In addition, the 1.3 million tons of paper used for advertising mailings produce about as much CO2 as 840,000 cars every year. That is quite impressive.
The analysis by the Hamburg-based company also showed that more than half of this advertising mail is thrown away unread. In addition, the number of advertising refusers (those with stickers on their letterboxes) in Germany has now risen to 20 percent. In many large cities, the figure is even as high as 50 percent. It goes without saying that the agency is promoting itself as an efficient alternative following this dismantling of direct mail. However, the figures themselves do not exactly indicate a high degree of efficiency in the advertising that ends up in letterboxes.
