There’s an important point about social equity here. Opt-in programs would mean immediate relief for millions of annoyed consumers, but still provide easy and free delivery of directories to the small number of people who still want them. According to a Harris Interactive poll conducted in December of 2010, fully 87 percent of adults support “opt-in” programs for White Pages, in which phone customers would automatically no longer receive the directories unless they pro-actively requested one. The white pages companies have even commissioned public opinion research on the subject. (The phone companies’ concern about waste is somewhat ironic given their intransigence on Yellow Pages delivery reform.) I can’t personally vouch for those figures, but based on published numbers for other states, I calculate that reforming Northwest states’ white pages laws could save about 690 tons of paper in Oregon each year, and more than 1,200 tons of paper each year in Washington-nearly the weight of three fully-loaded 747 jumbo jets. The US industry claims that 5 million trees a year are cut down each year in order to print White Pages directories, and that nationwide in the United States only 22 percent of the books are recycled. I’m not making this up: is actively lobbying to end mandatory delivery law s. While the Yellow Pages generate advertising revenues, the White Pages represent only costs for the firms required to publish and deliver them, eroding the bottom line in an industry that’s already struggling. Surprisingly, it turns out that the directory companies themselves would like to stop automatic delivery, if only the law allowed it. Until we make a very minor modification to existing rules, the White Pages will keep on coming to your front door, like or not. The reason the White Pages land on our front doors isn’t because phone companies want to annoy you it’s because their delivery is required by state law. The White Pages are an altogether different story. Yet neither city’s pushback will affect the delivery of the White Pages. That’s why cities like Seattle and San Francisco have recently passed legislation letting residents opt in or opt out of automatic Yellow Pages deliveries. What could be more annoying than the dull thud of another unwanted phone book on your doorstep? Printed phone directories are as outdated as, well, rotary phones - and these days they amount to little more than waste for the majority of phone customers.
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