Thanks DEX. Today must be my lucky day.  FOUR crisp new phone books delivered to my doorstep.

So in addition to documenting the absurd quantity of waste and trash the Yellow Pages creates, I took my own little unscientific sampling the morning after the big dump.  

I live in a nine unit townhome complex.  My neighbors are mostly 30s and 40s professionals like myself, which a few older folks retired or approaching retirement, plus a few guys in their 20s renting a unit.  One of whom seems to think my flower pot is an ashtray.

Before going to work I did some scouting:

Three phone book packages were in the recycle bin, including mine thrown in just after I took this photo. 

One bag was in the dumper. 

Three were still on the doorsteps.  (One unit is vacant, so that counts as trash.)

Two must have been brought inside, because I didn’t see them out back or on the steps.

So assuming the two remaining bundles will be picked up and brought inside (like an unwanted baby at a fire station,) that still is only FOUR out of NINE homes will bring the phone book inside.  A meager 40 percent!  And I’m erring that the two remaining bundles on the doorsteps will even be brought inside. 

Over in Albany they’re consideration legislation to ban the distribution of phone books on public property, or leaving bundles of them in building lobbies and such.

Hung up on how many phone books you receive?

A hearing will be held at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Albany City Hall on a proposed law regulating phone-book distribution. The law proposed by Common Council member Joseph Igoe would require the books to have a toll-free number on the cover for opting out, which would mean no book delivered to your address for a year. It also would bar dropping the books on public property, in rights of way or at vacant buildings.

With all the economic turmoil and what not what business is it of a local government and stomp on private business?  Number one phone book crusader Ed Kohler and his readers agree explain multiple times that when a business fails to be a responsible member of a community, or more to the point makes its business by littering and heaving trash all over a city, that leaves little choice but for a local government to step in.

Good for Albany.  Hopefully more towns will follow suit!  When it comes time for a Denver city council meeting I’ll have every one of my blog posts, (with photos,) in hand.