Opt-Out of Local Values

Does it bug you to receive “Local Values Presented by the Los Angeles Times” every dang week? If so, please call the Local Community Values voice-mail at (626) 472-5242, and leave a message stating your street address, zip code, and a request to be removed from their mail file. It should take about two weeks to see a reduction in your mailbox.

The phone number listed at the bottom of the Local Values front cover (1-800-528-4637 x72655) will only lead you to an outgoing message telling you to call the 626 number above.

For me, Local Values is just another big ole wad of junk mail every week. I couldn’t find an online form to opt-out of these mailings, and why do I have to opt-out of any mailing list that I don’t think I opted-into in the first place?

Ugh!

I kept an issue of Local Values that landed in my mailbox last Friday, sliced most of the sheets in half along their folds, taped them end to end, and took the following measurements:

• Length = 212.25 inches (more than 17 1/2 feet!)
• Width = an average of 10.50 inches

The Los Angeles Times Media Group site notes:

Local Values is a late week four-page wrap with display ads and free-standing inserts that reaches 92% of the L.A. market. Our new enhanced program combines the strength of the Times’ Local Values with the Orange County Register and Ventura County Star’s market-leading Total Market Coverage (TMC) programs to create the most robust advertiser package in Southern California.
Total Coverage: 4.2 million households

Geez. 4.2 million?

If all those households get about the same amount of Local Values paper as I did last week, then by my non-scientific calculations, I estimate:

• Weekly length = 212.25 inches x 4.2 million households = 891,450,000 inches or 14,070 miles

The circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,901 miles, so the SoCal edition of Local Values might be enough paper to create a rather unfashionable 10 1/2-inch belt more than halfway around our planet every week.

Here are some more nerdy estimates:

• My total = 212.25 inches x 10.50 inches = 2228.625 square inches
• Weekly total = 2228.625 square inches x 4.2 million households = 9,360,225,000 square inches or 2.33 square miles
• Annual total = 2.33 square miles x 52 weeks = 121 square miles

After browsing through the State & County QuickFacts site of the U.S. Census Bureau, I figured that’s more than enough paper to blanket Las Vegas (113 square miles), or both San Francisco (46 square miles) and Washington, DC (61 square miles), every year.

Help reduce the number of trees that end up in landfills by giving (626) 472-5242 a call today to remove yourself from the Local Values mailing list!

Tagged as: junk mail

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