Do Yellow Pages have you seeing red?

The coalition has been working with directory publishers to develop an opt-out system that would let people choose which phone books they don’t want. Watson says it would be similar to the Do Not Call Registry. “This would be a do not drop list. Do not drop the phone book on my front porch.”

Publishers know that if they don’t do something soon, a patchwork of laws at the state and local level could be passed to force them into action. Lawmakers in Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, North Carolina and Minnesota have already examined the issue. So far no laws have been enacted, based in part on industry assurances that it would respond voluntarily.

Just two weeks ago, the City Council in Cambridge, Mass., unanimously passed an ordinance that instructed the city manager to figure out a way to start an opt-out system. “I really think it’s an idea whose time has come,” says City Councillor Sam Seidel, who introduced the ordinance.

The directory publishing industry says it is proud of its environmental record. It promotes recycling of old phone books and uses them to make new books. For Councillor Seidel that’s not enough. He says unwanted directories waste too many resources to produce, deliver and recycle.

What happens now?
In January, the Yellow Pages Association and the Association of Directory Publishers called on their members to start opt-out programs. Those guidelines call for a universal opt-out system to be in place by 2010.

Opt out! The directory publishers listed below make it possible for you to stop receiving their books, but they don’t make it easy. None of the menu options includes “opting-out” of getting our directory. Follow this roadmap and you should get to a customer service representative who can help you. — ATT/ Yellow Pages: 1-800-479-2977 — Verizon: 800-555-4833, press 4, then 5, then 2 — DEX: 1-877-243-8339, press 2 — Yellow Book: 1-800-929-3556, press 2

Some companies already have opt-out phone numbers and are ready to take requests. Others are working out the logistics. “I think we’re doing a pretty good job considering it’s only been three months and we already have publishers that distribute 95 percent of the books in the country committed to this program,” says Amy Healy, director of public policy at the Yellow Pages Association.

Healy says the programs are being designed to give people maximum flexibility. The goal is to let you say you don’t want any books, just one book a year, or specify the type of directory you want – maybe a community book rather than a big urban book.

“Directory publishers are not in the business to print directories that no one uses and just recycles or worse yet, throws away,” she says. The industry understands that if the program is not easy to use, lawmakers are likely to revisit the issue of mandatory regulations.

Tom Watson gives the industry credit for taking this first step. But he’d like to see it happen sooner and he’d like to see it verified. The National Waste Prevention Coalition vows to keep pushing to make that happen.

My two cents
Making it easy for people to opt out of unwanted phone books is something that should have happened a long time ago. I applaud the industry’s effort to respond to customer frustration, but I’m also skeptical.

I’ve seen how these books are distributed. Publishers use independent contractors who race through neighborhoods. I find it hard to believe that they will slow down in order to keep track of “no thank you” requests. Especially when there is no penalty for getting it wrong.

This week, I opted out of the various phone books that come to my house. I’ll be interested to see what happens the next time that the phone book fairy visits my neighborhood.

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