Probably depends on the country but often it is not allowed to disregard these stickers on a mailbox. Unless it says please, then it's just a suggestion as had been ruled in Germany.
Exactly. No one is mentioning their country but it makes all the difference in the world.
In Switzerland, people must subscribe if they want a junk-free mailbox which costs them the equivalent of $/โฌ 30/year. I donโt suppose anyone is enthusiastic about paying that heafty fee, but the upside is that it works. If someone puts junk in your Swiss mailbox, itโs strictly enforced. The perp gets a fine, which I donโt recall if any of that goes toward compensating the victim.
In Belgium, itโs free to put a sticker on your mailbox. And itโs illegal for people to junk up your mailbox if you have the sticker. But itโs unenforced. So the level of junk mail drops a little with the sticker, but it never stops the flow of junk completely because everyone knows itโs unenforced.
No more flyers and religious pamphlets. Essentially, anything that isn't addressed. Where I live, the postal service honours signs like these.
It keeps my mailbox clear and reduces waste. I'm tired of being bombarded with advertisements without consent. And judging by how the recycling bin next to the mailboxes is always full of ads, my neighbours feel the same.
Two years on, I'm still getting mail addressed to the guy I bought the place from (he died shortly after). I write "Deceased. Please Forward". I've been up to the post office they swear they will take care of it but still it come. His realtor says they did a forwarding to his daughters and even paid for the "extra" forwarding. I think the mailman is a dick.
"People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply youโre not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.
You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.
Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. Itโs yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.
You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially donโt owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, donโt even start asking for theirs."