Yet another reason Seattle is beautiful: Amen to this phone book opt-out program. Of course, as soon as the news of this measure (the first in the nation to require that phone book companies honor the requests to stop delivery) went out, phone book company Dex argued (without luck) that the measure violates the First Amendment, and will cause their company “irreparable harm.” But thus far 85,000 Seattle addresses have chosen no longer to receive the paper phone book…an action that expresses quite clearly that many folks no longer have a need for a tangible directory, and perhaps this antiquated delivery ritual (for us, that continues with the book’s journey straight from our doorstep into the recycling bin) is something that should be reduced to, in turn, decrease the need for recycling.
