How to Stop the Endless Influx of Yellow Pages on Your Doorstep

by Jess Leber · 2011-02-10 07:00:00 UTC
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It's 2011, guys. What do you do when you need to find a local pizza joint? Go to Yelp's iPhone app or Google map nearby locations, right?

While not everyone is quite that plugged in, for the vast majority of people, hard-copy phone directories are going the way of street corner pay phones.

The Yellow Pages are an example of needless waste. Of taxpayer money spent on disposal and recycling. Of trees and paper. Of greenhouse gas emissions associated with their production.

San Fransisco may be the first city in the nation to do something about this waste. Earlier this month, Supervisor David Chiu introduce landmark "opt-in" legislation that would only deliver phone books only to people who said they wanted them.

When I wrote about San Francisco's new proposal, on the same day the Yellow Pages Association and a few other phone directory trade groups launched their own national site to allow people to stop receiving the phone book. As documented by NPR, it's not the most user friendly experience and requires multiple steps including submitting your phone number and email address. But until other cities copy San Francisco, using the site may be the best option to avoid those needless stacks of phone books left on your front stoop or apartment building lobby.

Really, phone directory companies do not want you to opt out. They are fighting tooth and nail against measure's such as San Francisco's and have filed a lawsuit against a proposal in Seattle the creates a much simpler city-wide "opt-out" clearinghouse.  They use First Amendment "free speech" arguments as the basis for their challenges; a tactic which did not work in their fight a few years back against "Do Not Call" registries.

The phone directory industry is worth billions of dollars, and plenty of that comes from local advertising in the printed copy of the phone book. So, to companies, the Yellow Pages are money. But to the taxpayer, they are money much better spent.

First, sign our petition to support the landmark San Francisco legislation. If it holds up there, then other cities are likely to copy it. In the meantime, to end your personal contribution to this waste, you can use the opt-out site the phone directory companies have set up.

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Jess Leber is a Change.org editor. She most recently covered climate and energy issues as a reporter in Washington, D.C

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