Last month, I blogged about the ROI advantages of email over direct mail. Of course, direct mail is more costly for a marketer to produce. But, being from California, I have to also factor in the cost of direct mail to the environment. Here are some statistics I read this morning:

• 100 million trees worth of direct mail are sent to American homes each year
• 28 billion (that's 28 with 9 zeros) gallons of water are needed to make all of that paper useable
• Paper makes up one-third of the 235 million tons of waste that Americans send to landfills each year
• The typical American household receives approximately 70 pounds of unwanted mail each year
• The amount of direct mail sent to American homes grows by 3 billion pieces every year

So, if you haven't considered allocating more of your 2007 marketing budget for email for its ROI advantages, perhaps its environmental consequences are also a worthwhile cause ; )