January 14, 2008 · contributed by Jonathan Fuerth & Giulio Quaglieri

How can software help save the environment? By reducing the unnecessary junk mail caused by duplicate records in many retailers' cluttered customer databases. Thanks to the recent advent of Open Source data cleansing software (such as the SQL Power MatchMaker), companies that were hesitant to invest in data cleansing solutions can now streamline their massive customer databases at little to no cost.

Every year in the United States alone, over 20 billion catalogs are mailed out(1). Due to the poor quality of many customer databases, some addresses receive multiple copies of the same catalog. Software capable of correcting these problems has been available for years, but until now it has been expensive and complicated to use, putting it out of the reach of small and medium-sized businesses.

This situation changed last week, when Toronto-based data warehouse consulting group SQL Power announced the general availability of the SQL Power MatchMaker: a free software tool for improving data quality, including address correction and data de-duplication. SQL Power has released this tool under the GNU Public License, a popular scheme for distributing software that ensures users can not only get a free copy of the software to run, but they are guaranteed access it its source code as well.

"By releasing this software for free, we are reducing the barriers to address correction and de-duplication," says Jonathan Fuerth, head of software development at SQL Power (and closet environmentalist). "Now small and medium-size businesses have no excuse for mailing out multiple copies of catalogs and direct mailings to the same household... or worse yet, mailing out catalogs to invalid addresses only to have them returned weeks later. Our software is easy to learn, easy to use, and free. With a modest investment of effort, businesses can save money and trees, plus reduce pollution in rivers and lakes. Every little bit counts."

If software like the SQL Power MatchMaker could reduce just half a percent of catalog mailouts, that would add up to 40,000 tons of trees(1) saved from needless use each year.

From the perspective of most companies, the SQL Power MatchMaker is a win-win solution: the cleansed data provides better decision-making information for the company, and the reduced duplication/increased accuracy helps the environment by using less resources for incorrect printing and mailing. But perhaps best of all is the fact that the software is Open Source - since SQL Power MatchMaker is free to download and use, there is virtually no risk.

And the only drawback to helping the environment without paying for it is that you can't get a tax receipt.

References: (1) http://www.forestethics.org/downloads/forestethicsCC1.pdf