The majority of American adults cite mailing envelopes as the safest way to send written communications according to a mail preference survey released by the Envelope Manufacturers Association Foundation. The research is in stark contrast to the common assumption that communications today is all digital. Mailing using envelopes was far head of e-mail and other types of Internet communications in a nationwide survey.

The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, Inc., found that 60 percent of respondents said that envelopes and the mail were the safest vehicle for such communications. Just 26 percent cited e-mail or the Internet as the safest way to send written information.

Other significant findings from the survey include:

78 percent of respondents preferred receiving their bills in an envelope in the mail

75 percent of respondents preferred receiving their financial statements other than bills in an envelope in the mail rather than electronically via e-mail or on the Internet

This would come as no surprise to the paper-based communications industry, but certainly contradicts continued assertions from the media and popular culture that the paper industry is in decline. When it comes to safety and security in communications, mailing envelopes is simply the preferred method. Certainly, we at Paper Views are biased, but when you talk secure communications, mailing with envelopes provides a secure, reliable and trusted method for sending and receiving valuable information.

Think of it this way: Nobody hacks your mail.

The survey also found that just 44 percent of Americans frequently or sometimes recycle envelopes they receive in the mail. We are a little disappointed in that result. The Envelope Manufacturers Association developed a Please Recycle campaign in 2007 to encourage people to do so. Mailing envelopes doesn't have to take up a large carbon footprint if we all remember to recycle envelopes, cartons and packaging products.

http://www.paperviews.org/