I came across an online discussion about the issue of energy and resource-intensive unsolicited advertising, i.e. junk mail. You can read the full discussion on the Open Thource online forum. One of the contributors listed the following facts (although I can't at this stage verify his sources).

Some facts about Junk Mail

• In an average household, unsolicited mail is the largest component of household waste on any given year.
• 44% of all junk mail is never looked at, a further 20% is used to ignite barbeques and fireplaces.
• The resources and power used to create junk mail in Australia could power over a million cars.
• About 100 million trees are pulped for the production of junk mail every year. It is not possible to assume that all of this pulp comes from plantations.
• Even if recycled, junk mail requires further resources to process and remove the inks, dyes and gloss coating.
• New junk mail is taken from fresh wood pulp.

Suggestions for immediate action

• In Australia, anyone is able to contact the Distribution Standards Board (DSB) to be given a free "No Junk Mail" sticker to put on their letterbox. They can be contacted on 1800 676 136
• If you find that you are being delivered the same catalogues or flyers more than once, see dumps of or excessive advertising mail littering around, you can collect the supplier details and report this to the DSB on the phone number above or on their website.
• In Australia you can place your household on the Do Not Mail Register. This will stop that sneaky mail that comes in a postage-paid envelope with "The Householder" at 22 Example Street.

We have also discussed asking our local members to block junk mail distribution in their regions, however I don't know the legal obstacles involved there, if any.
Are there any other suggestions on what can be done to stop this waste of resources from continuing?

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