Porch Spam Makes Me Fume

By: Mr. Wilson on July 28, 2009
12 comments
image I found this brick of porch spam in front of my door last night. Why oh why does anybody think I want 15 different phone books each year? This particular phone book was deposited directly into my brand new recycle bin from RecycleLink. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Advertisers, take note. Is there a way I can get on a list to stop this litter? I'm guessing not. I've seen the folks delivering these books. They aren't stopping to check if an address is on some sort of Do Not Deliver list. Ugh.

Comments

See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.

Jeff R
July 28, 2009 at 1:50PM

Hate is a strong word.  I hate phone books.  Do I really need 1,000 pages of dead trees to find a phone number (a task that takes what seems to be 5-10 minutes) for a task that I can do on the interwebs in half the time?  No, I don’t think so. 

I’m pretty sure these people get paid based on the number of phone books they deliver, so I really don’t think they have, nor care about, a do-not-deliver list.

Gene
July 28, 2009 at 2:11PM

I’ve thought about coordinating an effort where we give them their phone books back. Like putting them in a huge pile in front of their front door.

Erik
July 28, 2009 at 2:23PM

Count me in!

Mr. Wilson
July 28, 2009 at 2:51PM

I thought about that. Unfortunately, you’ll have to drive:

3815 2nd Avenue
Kearney, NE 68847
308.234.6342

11218 John Galt Boulevard
Suite 201
Omaha, NE 68137
402.597.9933

Mr. Wilson
July 28, 2009 at 3:03PM

Unfortunately, that site’s efforts don’t appear to be sanctioned by any actual distributors or publishers. If it works, great, but there’s no indication anybody will listen to your request.

Swid
July 28, 2009 at 3:18PM

I realize it’s not quite the same thing (white pages, not yellow pages), but AT&T;just got permission to discontinue mandatory delivery here in Missouri.

(Aside: Omaha has a John Galt Boulevard? There’s so many Ayn Rand jokes that come to mind; for her sake, I certainly hope it’s not a public street.)

Nikkidemas
July 28, 2009 at 3:19PM

This post has some interesting ideas about citywide bans or doing it via opt-IN.  Also found these numbers there:

DEX: 877-243-8339
Yellow Book: 800-929-3556
Verizon: 800-555-4833

beerorkid
July 28, 2009 at 3:43PM

Mine went into the trash, but I did sign up for recyclebank today 😊

Nikkidemas
July 28, 2009 at 3:44PM

I didn’t realize I was so annoyed by this problem - but it sure is making me post a lot this morning!

Posting this sign on your doorstep may be the easiest & most effective way to ward them off.  Or, here’s another way to put them to good use.

jwiltshire
July 28, 2009 at 7:50PM

I just put them in front of a neighboring apartment’s door 😉

Nancy
July 30, 2009 at 12:44AM

I also don’t think they really care about how many books they put on each porch, as long as they don’t have any left at the end of the day.

My apartment building has five apartments. Three are currently rented. We had the pleasure of having seven phone books delivered to us.

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