Seattle City Council

Seattle could become the first major city in the nation to stop the yearly delivery of phone books to residents.

Members of the city council at a Public Utilities and Neighborhood Committee hearing Tuesday showed interest in exploring different options to cut back on the delivery of phone books to homes that don’t use them.

Members of Zero Waste Seattle, a nonprofit group spearheading the effort, testified that  in today's digital age most people no longer use a phone book to find a business’ contact information.

Directories and phone books pile up, untouched outside apartment complexes and homes, Zero Waste said. Seattle added 2, 231 tons of phone books into the recycling stream in 2005.

“We don't use [phone books], we go online to find what we need,” said college student and ballard resident Ursula Sandstrom.

Only residents who sign up for phone books should receive them, Zero Waste Seattle says, and members said most people who stopped by the group's booth at the Fremont Fair last weekend agreed.

“Were are making sure we know what the city of Seattle wants on this, which is ultimately a chance to opt-in,” said Justin Rolfe-Redding, of Zero Waste. “We see it as a no-tresspasing sign for phone book companies.” 

Living sustainably means more than recycling. It also means cutting back on all that stuff that lands on those railroad cars that get sent to landfills in central Oregon from Seattle or barged across the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii.

Striking a blow for citizens who want to do their part, the Seattle City Council Thursday passed a resolution urging the Legislature to create a Do Not Mail junk mail registry akin to the Do Not Call registry for home phones. Yes, it will probably take federal action to get results. But it's also true that you have to start somewhere. So take a stand, Seattle!

The resolution would keep catalogs, ads, direct mail and other unwanted solicitations out of your mailbox.It claims the "production, distribution, and disposal of unsolicited direct mail contributes to climate change by producing 51 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually - equivalent to that of 10 million automobiles.