The mess of flyers and unwanted junk mail on the floor of the Canada Post office in Humboldt continues on and suffice to say, employees of the post office are fed up.
About two weeks ago, the Journal received a phone call from an anonymous worker at the facility, who was frustrated with a big pile of flyers, even garbage, that had piled up against the mailbox in the building.
That employee was unavailable to do an interview with our paper , but John Caines, spokesperson for Canada Post, is speaking out on the issue.
"People need to put things in perspective. The advertising mail only comes with regular mail," Caines said.
He said that people aren't getting angry with the local paper in town for the flyers that are distributed inside of it, so why hold a gripe with the post office for doing the same thing?
"Our customers have paid us to deliver their advertisements," Caines said. "Advertisers pay to have flyers put in the Humboldt Journal and the same thing applies to us."
Despite this, Caines said there's a simple solution for residents in town who want to opt out of receiving advertising mail.
The consumer choice program, explained Caines, allows people to leave a note in their post-office box saying they no longer wish to receive flyers.
"A representative from Canada Post will contact that person to confirm this and let them know the various advertising mail they'll no longer be receiving," Caines said. "It's as simple as that. There will no longer be unwanted flyers in their mail box."
Caines said if it's addressed mail, it has to be delivered regardless, but any mail without a person's name and address on it, like flyers, pamphlets, advertising mail and the like, can be easily stopped, if a resident so chooses.Humboldt resident Danielle Stockbrugger, who uses a scooter for mobility purposes, said that the removal of the recycling bins is a little inconvenient for people like her, who may have a disability or problems carrying things around.
"It'd be nice to have even garbage cans or something, so I wouldn't have to carry everything around," Stockbrugger said.
Still, despite her concern, she said she wouldn't throw her unwanted mail on the floor at the post office.
"I'd never do that," she said.
Following a directive, recycling bins inside Canada Post outlets will no longer exist across Canada; Humboldt removed theirs a few months ago.
Caines said the reason is it was becoming financially costly to recycle other people's unwanted mail but that Canada Post kept the recycling bins anyways.
However, people began taking advantage of this "courtesy", Caines said, by throwing in garbage, old food and other things that don't belong in a recycling box.
"There were some issues where people were throwing away addressed mail in the recycling bin for all to see, which can lead to identity theft," Caines explained. That type of mail, if unwanted, should always be shredded before it's disposed of, because it's a security issue, he added.
"We even had extreme cases where people were pulling pranks and lighting the recycling bins on fire," he said, before mentioning these incidents didn't occur in Humboldt.
"We just expect that for mail that is delivered, people should take it with them and recycle it at home," Caines said.
Ervin Jaeb, another local resident who uses the post office in Humboldt, echoed Caines' belief.
"I like the system the way it is," he said. "The mail is in your box to take home, not throw away at the office or dump on the floor."
Spokesperson Caines said he himself has had a community mailbox in his neighbourhood for about 27 years.
"I've never once seen flyers or junk mail on the ground at my mailbox," he said. "People respect their neighbourhood and wouldn't do that. It should be the same in Humboldt."
