With each person receiving nearly 560 pieces of junk mail a year, a group of Michigan residents has come up with an idea to curb the waste.

Sander DeVries, and his brothers Shane Pfannes and Tim Pfannes, launched an online business to help people remove their names from direct mailing lists.

Tim came up with the idea because he was tired of his kitchen counter overflowing with junk mail, DeVries said.

With help from Shane and Sander, he spent a year researching organizations that take people off mailing lists. He passed along the information to family and friends but soon found no one had time to make phone calls or send e-mails.

Then he turned his brainstorm into a business, charging clients for help and donating some of the proceeds to nonprofit groups.

They launched their web site 41pounds last July. The service’s name refers to the 41 pounds of junk mail a person receives each year.

The Oakland Press