Updated November 2026 · Southern New Hampshire
What junk mail to shred, what to recycle and how to stop it
Most junk mail can go straight in the recycling bin, but a few pieces carry exactly what an identity thief wants. This post shows you what junk mail to shred, what to recycle, and how to cut the flow at the source with OptOutPrescreen and DMAchoice.
99¢ per pound at our Tewksbury drop-off. Bring the junk mail box along with your yearly paper.
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Quick answer
Shred junk mail that carries an account number, a prescreened credit or insurance offer, a convenience check, health details or anything beyond your name and address, and recycle catalogs, flyers and “current resident” mail once you tear off and shred the address label. To stop prescreened offers, the FTC points you to OptOutPrescreen.com or 1-888-5-OPT-OUT for five years or permanently, and to DMAchoice.org, which charges $6 online for a 10-year registration. New Hampshire Document Shredding shreds the box you save up for 99 cents a pound at its Tewksbury, MA counter, part of our residential shredding service.
Why some junk mail is worth a thief’s time
Most of what lands in a New Hampshire mailbox is harmless. A hardware store flyer or a seed catalog tells a stranger nothing they could not learn from your street sign. The trouble is the handful of pieces that look like junk but are really invitations to open an account in your name.
The biggest of these is the prescreened offer. The FTC explains how it works: a lender sets its requirements, then asks a credit bureau for a list of people who meet them. Your name is on that list because of your credit report. The envelope that says “you’ve been preapproved” is built from the same file a lender would pull if you applied for real.
That is why these offers matter in the recycling bin. A thief who pulls one out has your name, your address and a form that a lender expects you to send back. Some offers arrive with a reply card or a code already printed on them. Others arrive with checks. Our post on identity theft from trash covers what people look for when they go through bins.
The FTC’s identity theft advice is direct about the rest: keep documents with personal or financial information somewhere safe, and shred them before you throw them away. Junk mail falls under that rule whenever it carries more than a name and a street.
What junk mail to shred, every time
Sort by what is printed on the piece, not by who sent it. These six kinds go in the shred box the day they arrive.
Prescreened credit offers
Card and loan offers marked “preapproved”, “prequalified” or “prescreened”. They come from your credit file and invite a reply in your name. Shred the whole thing, reply card included.
Prescreened insurance offers
Auto, home and life insurance offers built the same way, from a list of people who meet the insurer’s criteria. Same rule: the reply form and the letter both go in the shred box.
Convenience and balance checks
Blank checks your card company sends to tempt a balance transfer. They are tied to a real account. Never tear them in half and recycle them. Shred every one.
Account mail dressed as ads
Upgrade offers, rewards notices and “important changes” letters from banks and card issuers you already use. Many print part of your account number or a customer ID. If you see digits, shred it.
Health and pharmacy mail
Mailers from insurers, pharmacies and clinics that name a plan, a prescription or a condition. The FTC tells you to shred medical papers before you discard them, because medical identity theft uses exactly that information.
Anything with more than an address
A birth date, a policy number, a member number, the last four digits of anything, a signature line or a barcode tied to your account. When in doubt, the shred box costs pennies.
For the full ranking of household paper by risk, from Social Security cards down to grocery receipts, see our post on what documents to shred. Junk mail sits in the middle of that list. It is rarely the worst thing in your house, but it arrives every day, so it adds up.
What junk mail to shred and what you can recycle
The rest is paper. Recycle it the way your town asks and keep it out of the shred box, because you pay by the pound to shred and every catalog in the box is money spent on nothing. The table covers the pieces we see most often at our counter.
| Mailpiece | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Catalogs and magazines | Tear off the address label and shred it. Recycle the rest | The label is the only personal part, and it may carry a customer number |
| “Current resident” flyers and coupon packs | Recycle | No name, no account, nothing to use |
| Political and nonprofit mailers | Recycle. Shred a reply card only if it is pre-filled with your details | Name and address alone do not open accounts |
| Store sale postcards | Recycle, or shred if a loyalty number is printed on it | A loyalty number is tied to you, so treat it like any account number |
| Prescreened credit or insurance offers | Shred, all of it | Built from your credit file and designed for a reply |
| Convenience checks | Shred | Linked to a live credit account |
| Mailers naming a health plan or prescription | Shred | The FTC flags medical paper as an identity theft target |
A note on the paper you shred at home. Loose shreds blow around, so towns ask you to contain them. The City of Portsmouth, for example, asks residents to put shredded paper in a paper bag, staple or tape it shut, and add it to their paper recycling, or to seal it in a cardboard box. Other New Hampshire towns set their own rules, so check your town’s recycling page before shreds go to the curb or the transfer station.
Our post on shred or recycle goes deeper on the line between the two for bills, statements and other household paper.
A 60-second mailbox triage
The households that never build a pile all do the same thing. They sort at the mailbox or the kitchen counter, the moment the mail comes in, before anything lands on a table. Ask three questions in this order.
- Keep two containers by the door. A recycling bin and a small lidded box for shredding. If the shred box is not right there, offers end up on the counter for a week.
- Open anything from a bank, card or insurer. Envelopes that look like ads often hold account notices. Check for digits before you decide.
- Tear labels as you go. Catalogs and magazines lose their label into the shred box and go straight to recycling.
- Write down repeat senders. Keep a sticky note inside the cabinet door. Once a sender shows up three times, it goes on your opt-out list for the weekend.
- Empty the shred box on a schedule. Feed it through a home shredder each week, or let it fill and bring it to us with the rest of your yearly paper.
Pick your mail up promptly, too. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service advises not leaving letters and packages in your mailbox or at your door for any length of time, and using the USPS Hold Mail Service when you are away. A rural box at the end of a long driveway is an easy target on a weekday afternoon.
How to opt out: OptOutPrescreen, DMAchoice and the rest
Sorting handles the mail you already have. Opting out shrinks what comes next. The FTC’s consumer advice on junk mail lists the official routes, and they are worth an hour of your time once.
- Start with prescreened offers. Go to OptOutPrescreen.com or call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688). The phone line and website are run by the major credit bureaus. Choose five years online or by phone, or start the permanent opt-out and then sign and mail the Permanent Opt-Out Election form.
- Decide what to share. The site asks for your name, address, Social Security number and date of birth. The FTC notes that the Social Security number and birth date are optional, though they help process the request.
- Register with DMAchoice. At DMAchoice.org you choose which catalogs, magazine offers and other mail you want. Online costs $6 for 10 years. By mail, send your name, address and signature with a $7 check or money order, as the FTC page describes.
- Add the email list. The Email Preference Service, run through DMAchoice, is free and lasts 10 years. It reduces unsolicited commercial email from the marketers who use the list.
- Give it time. The FTC says opt-out requests are processed within five days, but offers can keep coming for several weeks because some companies already have your name.
Be realistic about the result. The FTC says DMAchoice will stop most, but not all, promotional mail. Prescreen opt-outs stop offers built from credit bureau lists. A company that found your name some other way can still mail you a pitch. You will still need the shred box. It will just fill more slowly.
One more reassurance from the FTC: prescreening does not hurt your credit score. Opting out is about mail volume and risk, not about your credit.
Mail from companies you already do business with
Opt-out lists do not reach your own bank, card issuer, insurer or the store where you have a loyalty card. Those companies mail you because you are a customer, and the cleanest way to stop them is to ask.
Call the number on your statement or log in to your account and look for marketing or mail preferences. Ask to stop promotional mail, and ask your card issuer to stop sending convenience checks.
Go paperless where you can. Every statement that moves online is one less envelope with an account number in your mailbox. The FTC’s medical identity theft advice suggests the same for health plans: get bills and Explanation of Benefits statements online if you can.
Some charities and catalog companies share or rent their mailing lists. When you give or buy, ask them not to share your name. It will not stop the mail you already get, but it slows the spread to new senders.
For mail addressed to someone who has died, the FTC lists the Deceased Do Not Contact List. For a dependent in your care, there is a Do Not Contact for Caretakers List. Both keep the person’s name on the opt-out lists permanently. Executors clearing a parent’s home can read our guide to shredding after a death.
Opting out is one part of a bigger plan. A credit freeze, an Identity Protection PIN from the IRS and a quick look at your statements each month do more than any mail list. Our post on identity theft prevention puts the pieces in order.
What it costs to shred a year of junk mail
Junk mail is light. A year of offers, checks and labels from one household rarely fills a banker’s box on its own, and a full box of paper weighs about 30 pounds. Weigh yours on a bathroom scale to know for sure.
That is why we do not suggest a special trip for junk mail. The $34.90 per-job fee is the same for 5 pounds or 50, so the cheapest move is to let the shred box fill and bring it down with your other paper: old statements, tax years that have aged out, and files from a closet clean-out.
If you shred a little each week at home, a small cross-cut machine handles junk mail well. Our post on choosing the best home paper shredder covers what to look for and when you do not need one.
| Bring to our counter | Shredding at 99¢ a pound | Per-job fees | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| A shoebox of junk mail, about 5 lb | $4.95 | $34.90 | $39.85 |
| A year of offers and labels, about 10 lb | $9.90 | $34.90 | $44.80 |
| Junk mail plus old statements, about 30 lb (one box) | $29.70 | $34.90 | $64.60 |
| Two full boxes of household paper, about 60 lb | $59.40 | $34.90 | $94.30 |
Our counter is at 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, on Route 38 near I-495, about 15 minutes south of the New Hampshire line. Walk in Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the paper is shredded the same business day. For the full price list, see our shredding rates. Free community days hosted by towns, banks and credit unions are another option for a small box, and our page on shred events explains how they work.
Frequently asked questions
What junk mail should I always shred?
Prescreened credit and insurance offers, convenience checks, account notices from your bank or card company, mail that names a health plan or prescription, and anything with an account number, birth date or member number. Recycle the rest once the address label is torn off and shredded. If you are unsure, shred it, since it costs pennies a pound.
Can I just recycle catalogs?
Yes, once you tear off the address label. The label is the only personal part of a catalog, and it sometimes carries a customer number. Put the label in your shred box and the catalog in your town’s paper recycling. Flyers addressed to “current resident” can go straight to recycling.
How do I stop prescreened credit card offers?
The FTC points you to OptOutPrescreen.com or 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688), run by the major credit bureaus. You can opt out for five years online or by phone, or permanently by signing and mailing the Permanent Opt-Out Election form. Requests are processed within five days, though offers may keep arriving for several weeks.
Does DMAchoice cost money?
According to the FTC, registering online at DMAchoice.org costs a $6 processing fee and lasts 10 years. Registering by mail costs $7, paid by check or money order. The Email Preference Service is free and lasts 10 years. DMAchoice stops most, but not all, promotional mail.
Will opting out of prescreened offers hurt my credit?
No. The FTC says prescreening does not hurt your credit score, and opting out simply removes you from the lists lenders and insurers buy from the credit bureaus. You can still apply for credit or insurance whenever you like. Opting out cuts the number of offers that could be stolen from your mailbox or recycling.
Is it enough to tear junk mail in half?
Not for the pieces that matter. A torn offer or check is easy to tape back together. Shred anything with an account number, an offer or a check. If you have no shredder, the FTC suggests using a marker to block out account numbers until you can get the paper to a shred day or a service.
How do I stop junk mail for a parent who died?
The FTC lists the Deceased Do Not Contact List for mail addressed to someone who has died, and a Do Not Contact for Caretakers List for a dependent in your care. Both keep the name on the opt-out lists permanently. Shred any offers or account mail that keeps arriving in the meantime.
Can I bring just a small bag of junk mail to your office?
Yes. Walk in Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA. You pay 99 cents a pound plus $34.90 per job, so 10 pounds costs about $44.80. Because the per-job fees are the same for any size, most people save junk mail and bring it with their other paper.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, How To Stop Junk Mail (checked November 2026)
- Federal Trade Commission, What To Know About Prescreened Offers for Credit and Insurance (checked November 2026)
- Federal Trade Commission, What To Know About Identity Theft (checked November 2026)
- Federal Trade Commission, What To Know About Medical Identity Theft (checked November 2026)
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Mail Theft (checked November 2026)
- City of Portsmouth NH, Shredded Paper Instructions (checked November 2026)
Shred the box, recycle the rest
Let the shred box fill, add your old statements and aged-out tax years, and bring it all down any weekday between 10 and 5. You pay 99 cents a pound, the paper is shredded the same business day, and you leave with a Certificate of Destruction.
Where we shred
1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876. Route 38, near I-495. Free parking out front, and staff help you unload.
Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Witnessed sessions and pickups outside these hours by appointment.
- Drop-off: walk in, 99¢ per pound
- Pickup: from $129.95 by zone
- Witnessed: $1.99 per pound, $100 minimum
New Hampshire Document Shredding · 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876 · (978) 636-0301 · Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.