As a serious environmentalist, the mere existence of junkmail—the non-electric kind—hurts me. It causes a knot in my stomach when I open my mailbox, only to take 90 percent of the contents and dump them straight into the recycling.

Luckily, a number of services have popped up in recent years to help people like me cut down on the amount of junkmail that gets tossed in the can. And, contrary to popular belief, you don't have to call up every single catalog distributor or bank to tell them to buzz off. We put together a guide to help you opt out of most kinds of junkmail so that you, your recycling bin, and your postman can get a much-needed break.

Credit card offers

The volume of credit card offers has fluctuated in recent years thanks to the recession, but a number of friends and readers have observed that they seem to be on an upswing lately. As we probably all know, when the banks are confident in helping people rack up massive amounts of crippling debt, the offers can really flow. If you're not interested in receiving them, you can tell them all to buzz off by going to optoutprescreen.com.

The site—which also helps you get out of insurance offers—is operated by the major US credit bureaus. When you fill out all the requested information, which does include your social security number, the credit bureaus can then tell credit card and insurance companies that you don't want their offers. They're able to do this because banks and insurance companies usually try to check your credit before sending you an offer, and if the "DO NOT ENTER" sign is hung on your account, they'll move on to someone else.

The online opt-out lasts for five years, but there's also a snail mailing address if you want a permanent opt-out. And, if you're concerned about the security of the site (as you should be, any time your social security number is involved), they do use a secure connection. It also helps that site is endorsed by the FTC.

Catalogs

You probably don't need us to tell you why catalogs are horrible. They always fall into two categories: 1) stores whose websites I already check out online so I don't need a catalog to tell me what they have, or 2) stores I'm totally disinterested in. But who am I to judge if you do find yourself keeping that occasional Victoria's Secret catalog for, ahem, bathroom reading?

Thankfully, a site called Catalog Choice has an easy-to-use interface where you can opt out of each catalog individually, allowing you to keep the ones you like and ditch the ones you don't. You do have to create an account on the site in order to complete the requests, but it's not very painful, and it allows you to set up multiple addresses where you do or don't want catalogs to be sent.

The site also saves your preferences so you can edit them later if you decide to change your mind. And, best of all, it even has status indicators for each of your requests showing whether they have been confirmed by the companies or not.

Other direct mail junk

You know those envelopes full of coupons for useless stuff that you would never buy? Or those booklets with "neighborhood" deals? Or, here's a good one: all those offers for home-related things that come flooding in when you buy a new place? Technically, they're not credit card offers or catalogs, so they fall under the category of "direct mail."

DirectMail.com is, first and foremost, a site to help marketers set up direct mail to be sent to unsuspecting users. However, there is also a part of the site that allows you to add yourself to the company's National Do Not Mail List. The online form is pretty simple and, unlike Catalog Choice, you don't have to create an account. Once you submit your request, DirectMail sends your e-mail address a confirmation link for you to tell them you're really, really sure.

DirectMail isn't responsible for all the junk that shows up in your snail mail box, but the company does more than others when it comes to making your choice known. "While we cannot, of course, stop all unwanted mail, we will make your preferences available to other mailers like us who want to help reduce the amount of unwanted mail reaching your mail box," says the site.

The most evil of all: the phone book

I have a personal vendetta against the printed phone book. In one apartment, I had a stack of phone books so high that it became somewhat dangerous for pets or small children to go near. In another apartment, I just never picked them up off my front porch where they were left by the postman. I'd find them in the spring, half decomposed in their plastic bags, buried under a pile of melting snow, and a new phone book balanced on top.

And now, I live in a building where there are apparently others like me; the postman simply leaves a huge stack of phone books at the front door for people to pick up, and very few have left that pile so far. (Maybe one day we'll find new ones piled on top of the old ones, blocking the door and holding us all hostage.)

This is a game you can never win—or so I thought.

The Yellow Pages association has finally created a way for you to opt out of the books—or at least get the contact info for whatever local phone books you may be receiving. After putting in your zip code, the site will show you a list of companies that may be leaving books on your doorstep (including Yellow Pages itself), with the relevant links and phone numbers. The Yellow Book opt-out is easy—no account required—and I can finally sleep at night knowing that a huge, five-pound book of phone numbers has not been printed for me in vain.

If you have any other tips to share with us on how to get out of unwanted junkmail, please do!