I remember mom telling me that in the "old days" it was delivered twice a day. Businesses cannot do with mail less than at least 5 days a week. I could go with no Sat. delivery. But the union at the post office would strike for sure.

In a word, Marda: no. Both my husband and I receive work-related mail regularly and sometimes it's time specific, I get lots of my beading materials through the mail and that's often a crucial factor, and I even (perhaps selfishly, I admit) want my birthday cards delivered on my birthday. I even get antsy when there's a no-mail-delivery holiday and there's nothing in my mailbox.

In urban areas, mail is often delivered by foot; in my suburban area, the mail carrier arrives in the area by vehicle and then walks the route. I also look at this way, the service provides regular employment and is at least one job that can't be outsourced.

But you are certainly right that too much mail is merely junk. One thing I've been doing to reduce waste is trying to reduce the number of needless catalogues that burden not only the mail carrier but also valuable resources. I've signed up with an online service that enables me to tell companies to stop catalogue delivery for selected stores. I love catalogues for stores from which I regularly shop but one purchase generally brings an avalanch of catalogues selling $200 men's shirts and $700 sport coats. I just began this a couple of months ago, so the results are not yet in. I hope it works.

I think it's a great idea.
I can see where some people/businesses need mail delivered more often but, for the masses, daily isn't necessary.

I have a po box and pick up my mail no more than twice a week (even though it is available 24/7--which could be an answer for those needing mail daily).
I've actually gone so long not picking up my mail that the postal worker fussed at me for my box getting so full.

I don't see where it would have to eliminate jobs.
With some rescheduling, rerouting, not over-working, stressing out present employees, the workers could still report to work to sort mail, etc.
It would really save energy associated with mail being delivered daily.

As far junk mail, I get so aggravated when I am emptying my po box.
I think 'well, there goes another tree.'
My post office has special containers for junk mail.
It is supposedly recycled.
I asked the postmaster if there was some type of junk mail list you could get on like the no-solicitors phone list.
She just laughed.

Every other day would be fine here...we just check our box out front twice a week, and that's mainly because we were receiving so many magazines and catalogs. As subscriptions run out I'm cutting way back on magazines and trying to stop the catalogs but that's a losing battle. If only the warning "If you don't order this may be your last catalog" were true!

Maybe they could bring our mail and pick up our paper recyclables...since most mail goes in that bin immediately it could be fastened to mailbox post.

Sort of related re effort expended and time and gas wasted: After the last wind storm, we reported to our landlord the fall of a large dead tree way back on the lot...no harm done except to fence. Landlord came by to look at it, then his chief handyman with a tree man for estimate re removal, then the tree cutter who chopped up most and hauled it off. Then the fence guy who will give estimate. Fence guy to do the actual repair will be next, I guess. We had reported the dead tree 4-5 years ago..LOL josh

I think there are many ways the postal service can reduce waste and energy and having had to work night shift in one facility, doing nothing but sorting, bagging and shipping flats (larger than envelope size) mail I'd vote to get rid of junk mail postal rates right at the top. This stuff takes just as much time to deliver as first class mail.....is often odd shaped and sized and can't be processed through automated equipment, and is heavy and usually unwanted, and subsidized by the end user in higher rates for first class mail. In fact, for anything other than standard sized envelopes or postal cards, I'd say tack on a surcharge. The postal service doesn't depend on/nor get rich handling the mail you and I compost without looking at or worse yet, fill up landfills with. It's a drain on the system.

I need mail service every day as well, mostly for the business. There are few things I can't fax or email out or handle electronically, cheaper and more efficiently than by snail mail......but try convincing my customers to do use that method! I've seen the services diminish so much since those days. One of them is to do away the the mail drop boxes all over our town. If somebody needs to mail a letter and they live too far from the Post Office, then they are just shafted. The carriers on city routes are NOT required to pick up mail left to be posted in mail boxes. And some won't. What few mail receptacles remain have extremely limited pick-up times.......like ONCE A DAY. I went to post some checks not long ago and went to the nearest box at the edge of town. It was before seven p.m. and that used to be the last pick-up. Well, now the last pick-up is three thirty in the afternoon. By seven, the mailbox was full, and people had just kept shoving it in anyway. It was literally overflowing and some had dropped out of the box onto the road! That's an invitation to identity theft if I ever saw one. I had to drive on in to town to the main post office to get that important mail out. Wasted energy. Is it cheaper to send a dozen postal carriers out to deliver and pick up a community's mail, or cheaper for each individual who wants something mailed in the community of 25K people to drive to the post office to drop it off?

Perhaps the USPS isn't outsourcing jobs, but they are sure as heck subcontracting them out.

I could do without mail several days a week.
Katrina has a P O.Box, a mail box, we have a P.O.Box
and now 2 mailboxes. That is 5 places for mail delivery
I have to check.
I have a bushel of junk mail every day.

Yesterday I looked in the mail box at the house in town.
We haven't even changed our address yet and it was filled with solicitations for donations and ads.
I'm getting a stamp made with return to sender and back to the PO they go.

I've had it with address labels with misspelled names
and such. I just toss it all. Talk about a waste of resources.

Nope for me. I receive too much non-junk stuff (like my movies & I want them NOW!). Like Pidge says, if you want to eliminate junk mail there are ways to do that& if that's all you get in your mailbox, then the post office person can just pass you right on by.

If I HAD to of course I would have no choice but to tolerate it. But I would work against it, sorry. I do many things to lessen my impact on the environment but this is not one I'm willing to do. If I thought it could happen, I would work towards having mail delivered every day, including holidays and Sundays.

I could do with a three or four day a week mail delivery and would love to get less junk mail. DH and I feel we have to look thru it all to make sure our names/address are not inserted somewhere in the middle of the "invitation to a new charge card", "deal of a lifetime", etc. When found, they're torn out and put thru our shredder. I think we're a little paranoid about it, but with so much identity theft going on, we'd rather be safe than sorry.

We've discovered the post office also sells lists--or somehow companies get them by osmosis. A case in point, when our DD moved in with us before her divorce, we actually began getting mail addressed to her soon-to-be ex at our address! Now, how did that happen?

I could do without the junk mail. Yes, the get-off-listing services work IF you spell your name precisely as the company has it. With the large assortment of vowels in our name, mis-spelling is common, but I did manage to cut the junk to about half. One year, I kept all the address labels, only one of 90 (!) sets was correct. I really don't mind junk mail, most of it composts very nicely! But it irritates me no end that those companies don't pay full price for first-class service.

Oh, and I could do without every-day delivery -- it's a residence not a business. Twice a week would be plenty, as long as the bills came early enough to be paid on time. We are approaching the time when all bills will be sent and paid on-line. When that happens, I wonder if I could remove my address from the PO...

Those of you that have P.O. Boxes be warned.
When you go back to pay the rent for your box
take along a picture ID and proof of residence.
I had to take my passport and my property tax notice.

It's a homeland security thing and if you have your
credentials, no problem. If someone else receives mail
at the same address, they will have to do the same.

At first I was miffed because of the inconvenience but then
when I realized what the reasoning was behind it, I complied and did it.

Big Brother is watching us.