The latest news in the fight on junk mail: a mailman is taking sides in the battle.

Steven Padgett, a mailman in Apex, NC, received probation in federal court last week for refusing to deliver junk mail to the people on his route. For at least seven years, he took the junk mail home, stored it in his garage, and buried it in his backyard, rather than drag it along on his mail deliveries. The 58-year-old mailman has diabetes and heart problems. According to his attorney, he was overwhelmed by the “torrents of direct advertising mail” he was forced to deal with, so in his efforts to be the best possible mailman he could be, he opted not to deliver the junk mail.

Not a single person on ”Mailman Steve’s” route of hundreds of residents complained about the lack of junk mail they were receiving over the past several years. In fact, when the neighborhood was notified of his crime, only one person responded, and that was to defend and thank Padgett for his work. The local newspaper, the Raleigh News and Observer, also received a flood of support for Padgett. Some people even requested that he be made the mailman in THEIR neighborhoods. By all accounts, he was widely regarded as a great mailman and a nice guy, friendly to new residents and careful with packages.

The Direct Marketing Association, of course, was not pleased by Padgett’s moves to spare the homes on his route from junk mail. The DMA boasts 3,400 members and sees direct mail as a way to get coupons and deals to the customers. The DMA’s public affairs director, Sandy Cutts, noted that eight out of ten people look at their junk mail, and many take advantage of the advertised deals. Cutts also asked that it not be called “junk” mail. The Postal Service doesn’t call it “junk” mail, either; the term is “standard mail,” and it makes up about half of the overall mail sent (and about a third of the Postal Service’s revenue).   

Padgett got away with his efforts until a utility worker near his home noticed the mail bins stacking up and alerted the authorities. Padgett was charged with delaying and destroying U.S. mail, a federal offense. His crime could have earned him five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, but instead, the judge sentenced him to three years of probation, a fine of $3,000 and 500 hours of community service. As the judge put it, “You’ll get credit for a life well lived.” Padgett is no longer employed with the Postal Service, of course.

So is Padgett a hero or a villain? It depends on whom you ask. We at Privacy Council support the reduction of junk mail, but stockpiling it after the postage has been paid is obviously not the best method for dealing with it! We can’t condone interfering with the process of the mail. We can, however, remove you from the DMA’s mailing lists so that less junk mail is sent in the first place. This reduces the flood of annoying advertising and assures that less waste ends up in landfills….including those in our own backyards.

Sources for this article: The LA Times