In 2015, phone books — particularly “yellow pages” — are passe.
If we need a business phone number, we ask Siri.
If we need to find a plumber or tarot card reader, we use Google, Yelp, or a squintillion other sources.
And don’t tell me that yellow pages are great for folks who are not internet-savvy. They’re the ones who need large print, which is not exactly the yellow pages’ forte.
Alert “06880” reader Gil Ghitelman sent this photo, showing an unsightly mess:
Morgan Mermagen also noticed a recent plague of yellow pages, littering our lawns:
Morgan calls it “a scourge on our neighborhoods,” and writes:
Right now, the law in our town is that you must opt out. Why can’t it be opt-in?
My neighborhood is littered with bags. A rare few use them. Some neighbors leave them to rot, to make a point. At best, they end up recycled. It’s wasteful and ugly.
Morgan raised the issue with an RTM member. The official said they’d look into the phone book issue “again.” Morgan was surprised it had been addressed in the past.
“I am hopeful,” Morgan says. “An eternal optimist.”
Meanwhile, more plastic is on the way. A press release from the 1st selectman’s office says that effective tomorrow, the Minuteman newspaper will be delivered directly to subscribers’ driveways, not through the US Postal Service.
“The protective plastic bag is not subject to the Town of Westport’s Retail Checkout Bags Ordinance,” the announcement adds.
The papers will be delivered to homes of customers “who have previously requested Minuteman delivery.” I don’t know about you, but I never requested it — it could be the least newsy, most poorly written paper in the history of journalism — yet it is still dumped in my mailbox every week.
The good news: The delivery service will travel the route 3 days after tossing, and pick up “all newspapers that have not been retrieved by subscribers.”
The better news: If you don’t want one more unwanted newspaper cluttering your driveway, call 866-361-9064 to be removed from the list. (UPDATE: That number was not operational as of this morning; Minuteman officials promised it would be working later today. Here’s another number to try: 203-752-2711.)