Do you have the interest to become a “community mailbox clean up ambassador?”
You may have noticed that, inexplicably, some of your neighbours have decided to discard their unaddressed mail at the community mailbox or wedge the flyers in the box’s crevices, leaving the area littered and untidy. Others may have taped signs or ads to the outside of the mailbox or placed lawn signs near by. It makes the area look untidy. I’ve been asked by many residents “what can I do about this?” Unfortunately, these boxes are the property of Canada Post and regulated by the federal government, so that restricts my options. A popular request is to place a recycle box or cart right at the mailbox but that would need to be emptied by either City or Regional staff or contractors at a significant cost that no one wants added to their the property tax bill. We have placed signage near community mailboxes in particularly problematic locations but, truth be told, if people don’t care about littering to begin with, a sign likely won’t deter them.
The easy solution is for each person to carry the unwanted mail home and discard it in their own recycle bin. But clearly this seems to be too much work for some. Here are a couple of other ideas:
1 – Tell Canada Post that you no longer wish to receive unaddressed admail. Here’s how.
2 – Report untidy community mailboxes to Canada Post online or phone at 1-866-607-6301. You can also request snow clearance of your community mailbox this way.
A third idea requires your help! Would you voluntarily take on the task of cleaning up your community mailbox by becoming a “community mailbox ambassador?” Here’s what that means:
1. Whenever you go get your mail at your community mailbox and notice flyers on the ground or jammed in between the boxes, take that litter home with you and place it in your own recycling cart.
2. If you’d like, e-mail me that you are willing to do this – along with the exact location of your community mailbox – so that we might avoid duplication of efforts. And, so we can properly thank you.
This is completely voluntary on your part. The City of Mississauga is not able to establish an official program like the Nuisance Sign Removal Program because these boxes are owned by Canada Post.
For those who take up this challenge… thank you! Our community is better for it.
Unwanted mail is dropped at community mailboxes instead of discarded at home.