Starting today, residents and businesses can opt-out of receiving phone books and junk mail.
A look at the discarded phone books, courtesy the City of Seattle
Last fall the city became the first in the country to allow residents and businesses to opt-out of receiving certain things to their homes – including phone books and junk mail.
Today the city launched a new online registry to make the process easy. “We heard from hundreds of people who are frustrated with the system of receiving multiple phone books every year and requested a reliable way to stop the waste. This is it,” said City Councilmember Mike O’Brien, Chair of the Seattle Public Utilities and Neighborhoods Committee and sponsor of the opt-out legislation. “The new system provides real accountability — phone book companies must to comply with peoples’ choices or face penalties.” Those penalties are as steep as $125 per phone book if delivered to a residence or business that has opted out.
The city says this move will stop an estimated two-million yellow-pages phone books from hitting the recycling bin, saving taxpayers about $350,000. “According to the U.S. Postal Service and Seattle Public Utilities research, Seattle homes and businesses receive an estimated 17,500 tons of unwanted paper in the form of junk mail and yellow pages phone books, approximately 100 pounds of waste per household, each year,” a release from the city states.
If you want to opt-out, you must do so 30 days before the scheduled delivery. Dex Pages plans to deliver next month, register by May 16th to opt-out.
The opt-out site is here, which includes both phone books and junk mail.
Good lord, it’s about freaking time.
This is fantastic — done, done, done. I’m a little annoyed that Seattle is making me give my information to a third party in order to make this request, instead of requiring the phone book companies to request permission to send me their junk, but I guess that’s how we do things in 2011.
Yes! I just KNEW checking MB everyday would eventually pay off in a big way!
It would also be great if we could get the post office to stop delivering the recycle to the mail box every day. This adds up to a lot more than a phone book every year.
Poor phone books. They don’t even know they are obsolete.
@gurple: Yes, opt-out is pretty bass ackwords.
The City Council tried to do it as an opt-in instead of an opt out but the phone book companies pushed back really hard and threatened a law suit. Although they are suing now, apparently the council thought the city would be on firmer legal ground if it passed an opt out law instead of an opt in. It’s too bad, but if it means we can stop getting these dam things, it’s good.
At least the junk mail helps pay for the Postal Service. I don’t mind receiving junk mail if it helps extend the viable existence of mail delivery.
This is great. The stupid phone books that get left on my porch don’t ever make it into the house. They go straight to the recycling. There’s this new-fangled interweb thingy that lets me find any phone number I need.
Well, this looks like a scam of epic proportions. It appears that you have to go in an make the same request every year.
Opted out. HATE those damn phone books!!
Great idea – I just opted out
phone books and gurple are cool.
mee too! why the f##k should I hve to register with a third party and provide my name and email just so I can stop being harassed?
would my neighbor have to do that to keep me from shitting on her lawn? cause that’s the same thing to me. someone is dumping garbage on my property without my consent and the onus is on me?!
You can opt out of a lot of that stuff too. I haven’t seen a Red Plum junk mail pack in months. Who needs Albertsons coupons every week when we don’t even have an Albertsons in this town?
Navin R Johnson: The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here!
Harry Hartounian: Boy, I wish I could get that excited about nothing.
Navin R Johnson: Nothing? Are you kidding? Page 73 – Johnson, Navin R.! I’m somebody now! Millions of people look at this book everyday! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity – your name in print – that makes people. I’m in print! Things are going to start happening to me now. [the Sniper points to Navin’s name in the phone book] Sniper: Johnson, Navin R… sounds like a typical bastard.