CHICAGO — You can find a bright spot in the recession as close as your mailbox: There are far fewer hefty catalogs, bulging coupon packets, unwanted credit-card offers and glossy fliers clogging it up.
Because of the economic downturn and rising shipping costs, junk-mail volume was down 16 percent in the nine months ending in June compared with the same period a year earlier, on pace for the steepest annual decline in decades.
Businesses that are still sending junk mail are sending less of it — shrinking their catalogs and using thinner paper to save money. It’s a sign stores are still struggling, but it also means less paper to toss in the garbage or the recycling bin.
As businesses cut back on direct mail, among those hit hardest is the already struggling U.S. Postal Service. Junk mail, which the post office calls standard mail, accounted for about a fourth of its revenue in 2008.
