IUCoupons

What we do really matters!

If students at IU Bloomington cut their personal junk and bulk mail in half, we will save: (based on calculations of student population to waste ratio)

• 28,900 trees
• 1,203,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and
• 2,590,000 gallons of water each year.

Good business practices dictate a new way of doing business and IUCoupons.com provides tech savvy students with a web-based approach to reviewing and printing a merchant coupon only when they want it. The paper coupon can be completely eliminated when the merchant and student opt for text message coupons on their cell phones.

Campus Edge Consulting is a stronger supporter of the environmental initiatives being taken by students. Campus Edge Consulting is donating 5% of our profits from IUCoupons.com to support on campus environmental causes and to purchase Carbon Offset Credits to help make IU Bloomington a carbon neutral campus.

The Campus Climate Challenge

e-mail ephayden@indiana.edu

The Campus Climate Challenge is an initiative of 37 leading youth organizations working to build a generation-wide movement to stop global warming. Combining grassroots organizing, coalition-building, and online media and communication strategies, The Challenge aims to engage one million students at 1,000 universities and high schools in the United States and Canada to make their schools models of the clean energy future. Youth working on The Challenge will inspire millions to become lifelong global warming advocates – leading North America into a safer, cleaner, and healthier future for everyone. In 2007, The Campus Climate Challenge aims to: Train 5,000 students to be "climate leaders" at their schools and in their communities; Engage and inspire 1,000,000 students to take concrete steps to stop global warming; Pass ambitious policies to reduce global warming pollution at 250 high schools, colleges and universities; Educate our leaders and the public about the urgency of strong global warming policies.

Why Such a Fuss Over Junk Mail?

• The world's forests are feeling the strain of unsustainable demand for wood and paper. The United States consumed 99 million tons of paper in 1997, or about 740 pounds per American. The U.S., with five percent of the world's population, consumes 30% of the world's paper.
  
  
• By weight, paper products comprise nearly one-third of all waste going into American landfills. Bulk mail, a substantial chunk of our paper waste, is especially troubling because it is often unsolicited and thus leaves citizens to dispose of materials they did not choose to consume. Catalogs and other direct mailings account for 5.2 million tons of waste each year and are recycled at a paltry rate of 19%, leaving over 4 million tons to clog landfills. That's 340,000 garbage trucks filled to the brim with nothing but bulk mail!
  
  
• This is a problem not only because of the waste disposal issue but also because it forces more paper to be made from trees, a very resource intensive process. Producing a ton of virgin paper requires 17 more trees, 7000 more gallons of water, and substantially greater energy input than a ton of 100% recycled paper. Furthermore, chlorine is often used in the bleaching process, releasing the carcinogenic chemical dioxin and other toxins.