Yellow Pages Get the Finger, Told to Take a Walk

We've seen several recent stories about residents being given the ability to opt out of Yellow Pages phone book deliveries. The advent of the Internet means very few people are letting their fingers do the walking these days, leaving the large, resource-intensive, difficult-to-recycle behemoths to sit around, unwanted, until they wind up in a landfill, or, hopefully at a recycling center (burning more resources).

Not content to opt out, San Francisco has proposed a three-year pilot ordinance that would require residents to opt IN, meaning you wouldn't get a phone book unless you specifically request one. According to a FAQ produced by the office of city supervisor David Chiu, the books would also be available at centralized locations like community centers and grocery stores. But to leave a book at a home, distributors must have a prior request or must get assent from someone at the residence.

They may as well swab the things with cooties.