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The Global Innovation Series is presented by BMW i, a new concept dedicated to providing mobility solutions for the urban environment. It delivers more than purpose-built electric vehicles — it delivers smart mobility services. Visit bmw-i.com or follow @BMWi on Twitter.
We all lead busy lives, and the last thing we need is to come from a long day to find our mailboxes overflowing with junk mail. How many times have you received an unwanted credit card offer and thrown it out without even opening the envelope? It's wasteful and unnecessary.
Fortunately, there are many digital options both for marketers and recipients to reduce that unwanted pile of junk mail — marketers need not waste money sending materials to uninterested consumers, and consumers can receive only things that interest them. Despite the presence of this technology, millions of tons of junk mail are sent and tossed every year — not the best way to conserve our finite paper resources.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. uses 71 million tons of paper each year. How much of that do you imagine comes from the junk mail and bank statements you toss or shred every day?
There are a number of reasons why businesses and people in general are still using so much paper. More often than not, it's because the companies you interact with demand hard copies of documents or faxes. But you can break the cycle with sites and services that consolidate your paper trail into one easy-to-manage location — making your life more organized and the environment cleaner.
Still receiving hard copies of your bills? It is not only bad for the environment; there's also the risk that one important document might get lost in the sea of paper consuming your desk or filing cabinet. It's inefficient and it could cost you in late fees for losing track of those impending bill deadlines.
A great advantage to digital billing, aside from the organizational benefits, is that you can set services to automatically send reminders or invoices to keep your budget on track.
If you want to streamline your paper trail to next to nothing, we've gathered the best apps, sites and services to help you stay organized and efficient. Some of these services will help manage your addresses to make sure that you stay off unwanted mailing lists, while others keep all of your bills in one secure place.
How do you keep your junk mail under control? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
1. Doxo
Doxo is an free web service that enables people to connect and go paper-free with household providers in one place. It's an online tool that makes going paperless more organized. If you opt to add all of your accounts, the Doxo "Overview" page becomes your own all-in-one personal bill center, reminder dashboard and online filing cabinet. You can also store your account information, save notes and to-dos per account and mark bills as paid to automatically file them away.
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Series presented by BMW i
The Global Innovation Series is presented by BMW i, a new concept dedicated to providing mobility solutions for the urban environment. It delivers more than purpose-built electric vehicles; it delivers smart mobility services within and beyond the car. Visit bmw-i.com or follow @BMWi on Twitter.
Are you an innovative entrepreneur? Submit your pitch to BMW i Ventures, a mobility and tech venture capital company.
Image Courtesy of iStockphoto, NoDerog
More About: features, Global Innovation Series, green, mashable, paperless
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