We’ve got “do-not-call” registries.  We’ve got CAN-SPAM.  And we’ve still got tons (hundreds of thousands of tons) of phone books being dumped upon us.  I don’t propose that it be illegal, but I am frustrated by the incredible waste of resources it represents.

Here’s the latest in legal spam; it greeted me upon my return home from work tonight.

Spam Unsolicited Mail Yellow Pages Book

Thanks for the spam, Verizon.

It’s not quite irony, but there’s something funny about their QR Code pitch to download their app.  Really?  You had to print, bag and deliver door-to-door an unsolicited pitch to download your app?  No better way to reach me with that message!?

To those of you hoping to eliminate unsolicited messages of all kinds, here is a wonderful resource from ecocycle.org (based in Longmont, Colorado).  It’s a collection of links to online forms to remove yourself from lists.

And to those businesses still paying tens of thousands of dollars each year for magnets, covers, inside covers and back covers … I recommend this.  (Exception: if the primary demographic you’re hoping to reach is something like adults 60+, then the phone book might be a great place to invest)