Get Letters On The Internet With Zumbox

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - You say can goodbye to snail mail for good thanks to a new paperless postal service called "Zumbox."

To cut down on his mail, Ryan Mickle of San Francisco has been paying his bills and keeping in touch with friends and family online. Now he is also using Zumbox, a new Web-based postal system that uses his street address for e-delivery.

"With just one click, say I want this [letter] paperless in the future please," said Mickle. "And I'll never see a paper copy ever again."

Rob Reed, vice president of marketing at Zumbox, explained, "We've created a digital mailbox for every street address in the U.S., so now all mail can be sent online the same way it's sent on paper."

Sending mail online can save a lot of money on printing and postage, which caught San Francisco's attention. Last year the city sent 7 million pieces of mail at a cost of over $3 million. That is money Mayor Gavin Newsom would like to spend on other things.

"It's a nice thing ... Take advantage of technology, go paperless," said Newsom. "I think this is unquestionably the future."

The mayor used Zumbox to notify residents about a new composting ordinance. The letter contained hyperlinks to other eco-friendly programs.

"We're really trying to encourage residents as well as businesses to cut down on the amount of paper that they're sending to the landfill," said Lawrence Grodeska, of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. "Certainly, recycling, but if they can reduce the amount of paper they use up front, that's the best possible scenario."

Because Zumbox allows for geo-targeting, users can alert neighbors about a missing pet or other local events.

"The potential for Zumbox is to build and strengthen communities by enabling electronic communication that didn't exist before," said Reed.

Cities across the United States are embracing the system's digital delivery. New York City, Minneapolis and Newark are also using Zumbox to some extent, and with every address in America already on the system, more cities are expected to give this paperless postal system a try.