I wrote earlier about efforts to stop the flood of catalogs. Phone books are no different. Fabooj recounts a recent experience on that front in that previous thread:
About a month ago, I got a call from AT&T:
AT&T rep: Hi, I was calling to make sure you received our phone book.
Me: Nope. I'm not an AT&T customer and would rather not have anything to do with you people.
AT&T rep: Well, I see you just moved to the area, so you'll probably need a phone book for local services.
Me: What? It's 2007. Why do I need a phone book clogging up space and killing trees when I have ... The Internet?
AT&T rep: Well, some people like having real phone books around.
Me: Well, I'm not one of those people. Please don't ever call me again. This call does not give you the right to try to make me your long distance customer and I do not want a phone book. Thank you.
AT&T rep: Okay!
The next day, me and the Mr. went to lunch, came back home to find 4 phone books on our front porch.
I haven't cracked open a phone book in about eight years, and can't bear the thought of those things 1) cluttering up my house, and 2) killing untold number of trees. I don't ask for them. I don't request them. I don't want them. I don't need them.
Another wasteful practice that pisses me off? Campaigns sending me dead-tree mail after I give them an online contribution. I wish they tracked the response rate on direct mail from those who give online. I suspect it would prove incredibly wasteful -- not just environmentally, but financially as well.
Apparently, the direct mail consultants -- who charge "per piece" -- have final say on what is an obnoxious campaign practice.
Update: How do phone companies avoid anti-litering statutes when they dump their garbage all over people's driveways and front porches?