Ridding your junk mail the green way

Earth Class Mail converts mail into digital files. That's the soundbite. But I wanted to delve a little deeper, to figure out if the notion of ridding the world of junk mail could come to fruition. After all, the San Antonio, TX-based outfit boasts that "thousands" of companies have tapped its services, with over 16 million piees of mail and $1.8 billion (with a B) in checks processed by them.

Their vice-president of finance, Chisom Iwu, was kind enough to answer a few of my e-mailed questions.

Following are Iwu's e-mailed answers to my questions:

1. You advertise that: Thousands of companies have trusted you with over 16 million pieces of mail and $1.8 billion in checks. Please explain how your business works.

Earth Class Mail provides a way for people and businesses to access their mail without ever having to make a trip to a mailbox or touch an envelope. Customers select an address from more than 80 “virtual addresses” that Earth Class Mail provides. They submit a U.S. Postal Service form 1583, which authorizes a third party to receive and open mail on their behalf. Once that’s filed with the postal service, they can begin using a virtual address for all their personal and business needs. We offer our service in three different ways:

● Our MailBox plans fit the mail volumes individuals, families, and small offices might have, with one to twenty recipients and up to 50 pieces of mail a month. (Excluding junk mail)

● Our MailRoom plans fit small and large businesses that get 100 pieces of mail on up to enterprise high-volume clients.

● A virtual address is an address-focused account, for people and businesses that might need an address in a certain city or state but don’t anticipate receiving much mail there.

A spokesperson for the company added that, "The address-only plan is mainly used by businesses who want an address for marketing purposes. If a bigger company has a brick-and-mortar office but they want to digitize their mail, they would still likely use our mailbox/mailroom plan because it ends up being less expensive and includes things like automatic scanning. I imagine they'd differentiate the two as a 'mailing address' vs 'physical address'."

Right, and when mail is sent to the virtual address, it is routed to our operations center in Beaverton, Oregon. There, we process the mail, sort it, remove the junk mail, and scan the first class mail. Some accounts are set up so that we automatically open the contents of their mail and scan it. Others don’t want this feature, so they can view the exterior of the mail on our web platform or app and select it for scanning when they want to see the contents. Once viewed, they can download the high-resolution PDF, integrate it into a cloud storage system like DropBox or Google Drive, or forward the PDF to someone else. If it is an important document they need the hard copy of, they can have the original sent to them anywhere in the world.

We also have automatic check deposit services for people, businesses, and nonprofits that receive regular checks in the mail.

2. Is it just companies who tap your services or individuals? Who are your biggest customers?

We have customers and companies that use Earth Class Mail. Our service is popular with remote offices, start-ups, expats, and travelers. Some of our customers are well-known - such as Coinbase, the first company to go public operating as “remote first” office. Other household names include Zapier, Shopify, Grammarly, Reddit, and Lyft. However, they may not use our services the most because not all of them receive that much mail. Some large companies and organizations that use us as their virtual mailroom include the ACLU and MyComplianceOffice.com as well as law firms and accounting firms large and small. We help these businesses achieve their goals of paperless offices.

3. So if I had a business, I would buy an address with you and have mail sent there? I thought one needed to have a physical address.

Yes. Business registration requirements vary by state. Some states require a street address and others only require a P.O. box. In Connecticut, your business mailing address doesn’t actually have to be in the state and you may use a P.O. Box as your business mailing address. There is a difference between your physical address and your mailing address. In some cases, you may need to provide your physical address. However, your mailing address can be used on business paperwork, in marketing emails to make them compliant with the CAN-SPAM act, and in business directory listings.

4. What about personal correspondence? I can’t imagine that I would want a virtual mail service to sort through condolence or birthday cards to me. How do you handle personal mail?

There’s another option - if you had a personal account and didn’t want us opening your personal mail, you could view the exterior of it and have it shipped directly to you without us opening it. (What we do depends on your account settings. Some customers set up automatic scanning and others do not.) However, all our mail technicians are trained in HIPAA laws and other privacy laws and our entire company is SOC-2 certified, meaning we pass all regulations for privacy and security protocols.

5. How are you helping the environment? Doesn’t it take a lot of power to run all those computers?

In addition to our efforts to plant trees and recycle, we have set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2022. We’re achieving this in two ways. First, we have partnered with a software company called GreenFeet, which helps businesses accurately measure their carbon footprint. The computers we use to scan your mail will be factored into that. GreenFeet will help us analyze what areas we can cut back on energy use. Of course, very few businesses can run without any carbon usage. To make up for that, we have purchased carbon credits from a public benefit company called Grassroots Carbon. Grassroots Carbon connects businesses like ours with farmers and ranchers. Providing more green space to absorb carbon emissions has been proven to benefit the environment. Farmers and ranchers often face a tough choice between using all their land all the time for crops or livestock or cycling the land usage, a process known as regenerative farming. Regenerative farming benefits the environment and reduces carbon emissions, but it hurts farmers’ bottom line. When companies like Earth Class Mail purchase carbon credits through Grassroots Carbon, they give back to compensate for the carbon emissions their business generates.

6. Explain the tree planting program and how that works.

We have donated a corporate sponsorship to the National Forest Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the U.S. Forestry Service. The foundation identifies areas in our national forests that need reforestation the most, such as areas damaged by wildfires. We donated enough to plant one tree for each one of our customers. We’ve also committed to continuing those donations throughout the year every time a new customer signs up. We will make these donations everyquarter, matching one tree donated for each new customer.

7. Finally, how would a Connecticut business use your service?

A Connecticut business would have several options if they wanted to use our service. They could sign up for a virtual address using our operations address in Oregon if they did not need a Connecticut address. If they did need a Connecticut address, we offer a virtual P.O. box address in Greenwich. They could either select a “business address only” plan, which is for a business that might want a Connecticut address, but doesn’t expect to get much mail there. Or they could opt for a MailBox plan, which fits most small business needs with one to five recipients. Our virtual MailRoom plans are made for larger businesses that need unlimited recipients and high volumes of mail processed.

For more information or to sign up, visit their site.

Image: An Earth Class Mail operations employee, Kyle Anmann, sorts through stacks of mail to remove junk mail at the company's Beaverton, OR sorting facility.