Online services let cities bypass the mailbox

Last week, the city of San Francisco sent its first letter to residents using Zumbox, a secure e-mail service that allows senders to contact people online using their street address, which regular e-mail doesn't do. If the experiment catches on with even a fraction of the population, San Francisco could save a chunk of the $3 million it spent last fiscal year on postage and associated labor costs. Although the service typically costs 5 cents per e-mail, Zumbox is not charging the city. The other selling point is the environmental benefit: no paper to recycle. Last year, the city sent about 7.5 million pieces of mail, according to its mail department. Zumbox is one of a number of services that is trying to reduce the burden of physical mail. Companies such as EarthClassMail and PaperlessMail offer to scan customers' unopened mailings. From a computer, users can then decide which letters they want opened and fully scanned or shredded and recycled.