As we speak, there is a big plastic bin from the Post Office sitting by the front door. It is filled with junk-mail. Catalogs. Coupons. Crap. Crapola. And more crap. It is not mail that I want, that I requested, that I will use. I will not, in fact, even open it.

It will go into the recycling. In the process of being recycled, it will generate loads of environmental waste. Spend loads of tax dollars being processed and turned into, well, more junk-mail.

The reason I have the plastic bin in the first place is because my mailbox was so full of junk-mail that they kept my mail at the post office. That happened because mail became so overwhelming to me that I often just ignore it, rather than lugging it up the hill and watching the incredible waste go into the bin, piece of junk by piece of junk.

Don't kid yourself, this is a REAL problem.

In fact, here are some sobering statistics:

• 100 million trees are ground up each year for unsolicited mail.
• It wastes 28 billion gallons of water for paper processing each year.
• That's 4.5 million tons of junk mail produced each year!
• 320 million of local taxes are used to dispose of unsolicited mail each year.
• The average person gets only 1.5 personal letters each week, compared to 10.8 pieces of junk mail.
• 44% of all junk mail is thrown in the trash, unopened and unread.
• All because some junk-mail company made between 3-20 cents selling your name. NICE!

That's where GreenDimes comes in. Personally, I think this company is so cool, that I dropped what I was doing this morning to call them and talk to them, I registered for their services, I started the JUST Business Cause just for them, and now I'm writing this blog so that you'll all join them.

GreenDimes, which is only a year old, is now the leading company working to eliminate junk-mail. (Yes, there are others.)

With a one-time $15 fee, they will eliminate 90% of the garbage that winds up in your mail box. That's worth it, just for the clutter-elimination alone.

But what makes them so cool is how they run their company.

Not only do they eliminate your junk-mail, they take a % of your membership fee and use it - through established non-profit organizations - to plant 10 trees in your name, both here and abroad.

But that's not all, they also work with a wide variety of non-profits around the world to reduce or eliminate environmental hazards around the world. For instance, they partnered with the United Nations program called Nothing But Nets, which provides mosquito nets to families in areas where Malaria is a life-threatening problem. They worked in a similar fashion with the Clinton Global Initiative.

But that's not all, they slice, they dice, they petition congress. Sure, the giant bin of junk-mail in my foyer is a real annoyance for me. But when you look at that pile in every household in the country, you have a bonafide environmental crisis. One that the federal government should be dealing with. So GreenDimes started the Do Not Mail Me petition much like the do not call registry that stopped telemarketers from calling our homes. Again, those calls were annoying, this is an environmental crisis.

And an awesome solution.

What's best (as if all that weren't enough) for me is that this is a For-Profit company. Hardcore capitalist that I am, healthy margins turn me on. But they make me downright delirious when they are achieved by a company who's product AND business practices solve problems. Gone - I hope - are they days, when businesses can behave irresponsibly and expect underfunded and overly-stretched non-profit organizations to clean up after them. Gone are the days - I hope - when consumers will put up with that behavior.

When I founded JUST CAUSE, and made the seemingly rebellious decision to be a for-profit company rather than a non-profit org, it was to prove that point precisely. So finding others who think that same way makes me very happy on a personal level. So, on a personal level, hats off to Pankaj Shah, founder of GreenDimes, for building just such a business. He has founded and sold several successful tech companies prior to this - he knows what he's doing. And I'm happy to ride this wave of positive change with him. Nicely done!

I went through the whole process of registering, it took me 3-1/2 minutes to register our entire 3-generation household. It was that easy.

Now, please stop reading, go to GreenDimes.com and stop the junk-mail. And don't forget to sign the petition while you're there.

OH - one more thing - You can give this as a holiday gift. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving! (So, to my friends and family, guess what you're getting for the holidays this year? That's right, you're NOT getting junk-mail, ever again. You're welcome.)