Green blitz on hand-delivered junk mail in central Brighton after census fears
20 February 2003
Greens are distributing 8,000 free ‘Think Green’ anti-junk mail stickers which can be attached to letterbox flaps to cut the amount of hand-delivered junk mail and flyers delivered to homes in central Brighton.
It is part of a campaign to cut junk following concern from residents about the volume of hand-delivered junk mail. Greens fear it will become even worse when direct marketing companies gain access to the new census data. The new statistics suggest a high proportion of single people in central Brighton & Hove, who may have higher disposable incomes, making some neighbourhoods attractive targets for hand-delivered and posted junk mail.* (see note 2)
Green campaigner Simon Williams said: "We have already reached breaking point with the amount of hand-delivered junk mail flooding into people’s homes in central Brighton. But with the new census results, we fear marketing companies will target post codes in central Brighton even more aggressively. People are becoming especially fed up with the number of flyers which are being pushed through letter boxes every day. As well as irritating, it is also a waste of resources and adds to the amount of rubbish."
He added, "Because the council has yet to provide a comprehensive doorstep recycling service in central Brighton, much hand-delivered junk mail is not recycled. We think stickers will send the right message and in the long-run will help to discourage junk. People who want to reduce the amount of Royal Mail-delivered junk mail should register with the Mailing Preference Service which can remove them from mailing lists."
Genuine news from community groups and political parties is not affected as there is a note welcoming this type of mail on the sticker. If you want a free sticker please contact the Green Party Office on 01273 600 883.
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Notes
1. Mailing Preference Service
To reduce the amount of junk mail people can write to the Mailing Preference Service, Freepost 22, London W1E 7EZ Tel. 02077 664410 and ask them to remove you from any mailing lists they have. Alternatively visit their web site: www.mpsonline.org.uk.
2. * 2001 Census
Brighton & Hove has one of the highest numbers of people living alone in the whole country, according to Census data. The city ranks eighth out of 376 council areas in the UK for single person households. (Brighton & Hove City Council Press Release Feb 13th 2003).
3. ACORN - Direct Marketing Profiles
ACORN stands for 'A Classification Of Residential Neighbourhoods. It builds profiles of post code areas using the census data. There are 1.7 million postcodes in the United Kingdom, the average postcode being shared by around 14/15 addresses. The marketing-data firm CACI has produced this classification to include every street in the country, fitting them into 17 distinct Groups, which, in turn, contain 54 'typical' ACORN neighbourhood categories.
The basic idea is that streets of broadly similar people are grouped together. Your postcode is assigned to the type which is the best match with the unique characteristics of your street. Note that the type describes your street as a whole, not you as an individual.
The descriptions of the types are based on averages across all streets in the type. Your postcode may be a close match to this average. The matching process considers a large number of different characteristics. Since your type is simply the best match you will probably not match the description of the average characteristics in all respects.
CACI checks and updates its classifications annually, to reflect any evolution of an area and ensure that the area 'profiles' you read are as accurate as possible.
For each of the Groups and Types, CACI arrives at their classification using more than 250 pieces of information drawn from the Census and various market research and lifestyle databases. If you would like to find out more about CACI, or how this information is collated and used, please visit www.caci.co.uk.
