'Opted out' of phone books? City says 1 in 5 already has

Bill at Duwamish Head April 24, 2012 (10:18 am)

I signed up last year, and it seems many residents in my building did as well. We only had a couple of books show up so I would call this program a success.
One question for the group, does this carry over year after year, or does everyone need to sign up again?
I will pass the info on to the residents here in my building.

Charlie Warsinske April 24, 2012 (10:40 am)

That is exactly my question. Once I opt out why do I have to opt out again? Also, why isn’t it an opt in program? Why is SPU, in effect, supporting the phone book companies in promoting their books with this opt out program? Let’s move to an opt in program and be done with the damn things.

A April 24, 2012 (11:10 am)

It’s not junk mail. Alot of it is coupons that many people still use otherwise they wouldn’t keep sending it. I know people get annoyed by getting mail they dont want but please please dont opt out of receiving this mail. Simply recycle it and know you are supporting the p.o. and the recycle company and the printing company that printed the so called junk mail. There are 7 million jobs directly dependant on the postal service so please do what you can to support it. Next time you get a bill that says ” save a stamp, pay online” think to yourself ”save the p.o., use a stamp!” this economy is bad enough right now and the postal service is a vital part of the economy so please support it before it disappears and we have 7 million more unemployed people. If the postal service goes, this economy will be devastated. Think about that before you opt out of receiving mail or paying all your bills online.

A April 24, 2012 (11:15 am)

One more thing. Saturday may 12th the National Association of Letter Carriers will be doing our annual food drive. This is the largest single day food drive with millions and millions of pounds of food collected on this one single day. Without this food drive many food banks would run dry before the end of the summer. The postal service does more than just deliver ” junk mail”. Please support this food drive and support your postal service!

WSB April 24, 2012 (11:18 am)

Yup, we always promote that heavily in connection with West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day – my favorite food drive of the year because I can just leave a donation at the front door! Good luck! – Tracy

Gennessee Hill April 24, 2012 (11:23 am)

I respect the work ethic of the post office, but it is time to move to the 20th century. Saturday delivery is antiquated, door to door service is no longer cost effective on a daily basis. Electronic communication continues to improve and become more accessable to all people. Continuing to receive unwanted deliveries is not saving jobs, its hindering progress toward a more economic and enviromentally friendly future. Long live a 3 day a week post office with several options for package drop off and pick up!

datamuse April 24, 2012 (11:26 am)

Actually, it IS junk mail, because I DON’T WANT IT.
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I’ve been on the receiving end of downsizing, so I’m not unsympathetic, but telling me to keep getting junk mail to save the postal service is a bit like telling me to watch TV so a program doesn’t lose advertisers. All it does is waste my time and annoy me, and I’m sure neither of those is a sentiment any company wants me to associate with them.

datamuse April 24, 2012 (11:34 am)

…that said, I do use the postal service and quite frequently: to send packages, mail letters, and yes, pay bills. Doesn’t change the fact that about 50% of what arrives on any given day goes straight to the bin.

Gennessee Hill April 24, 2012 (11:46 am)

I also went back in after opting out last year and they still had my preferences!

WSB April 24, 2012 (11:52 am)

We actually just signed up this morning and going through the process, it says that your preference will be retained, so if you opt out now, you’re opted out “forever” … TR

owen April 24, 2012 (12:13 pm)

For those drowning in junk mail, I would highly recommend following the go here link to SPU’s Stop Junk Mail page. I’ve used the Catalog Choice service (SPU’s partner) for over a year and it has dramatically reduced the amount of junk mail we receive. It takes a modest amount of effort at first – you have to file individual requests for each catalog/junk mail item you receive – but you get quick at it after the first few.

Bianca April 24, 2012 (12:40 pm)

Is there a way to opt-of of those coupon bundles and grocery store circulars that seem to be stuffed into every mailbox every couple of days?

Allison April 24, 2012 (1:02 pm)

Speaking of opting out, if you want to opt out of all pre-approved credit card and insurance applications, you can remove yourself from the list by going here: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/

It takes a couple months for them to stop coming in, but cuts junk mail in half and helps prevent identity theft.

A April 24, 2012 (1:21 pm)

I understand junk mail can be an inconvenience. You have to take it from your mailbox and walk a whole ten yards to drop it into your recycle bin. How hard is that to do to save millions of jobs? You may not know this but from recycle companies to printing companies to logging companies to magazines to delivery drivers to the millions of jobs the p.o. contracts out, there are at least 7 million jobs dependent on the p.o. It’s a trillion dollar a year industry. Tell me our economy would be better off eliminating a trillion dollar industry and I would call you stupid. Be careful what you wish for people. Eliminate the p.o. and you are severely gonna regret the consequences. Heck even when you are paying your bills online all you are doing is helping the big wigs make more money and you are eliminating even more jobs by getting rid of the secretaries that sort through the bills. Save the p.o. and save middle class jobs or we are doomed!

resident April 24, 2012 (1:28 pm)

Makes for good bonfire starter on alki. Bring em on!

A April 24, 2012 (1:28 pm)

Yes bianca, go to redplum.com. That is the company that sends the weekly circulars you are talking about. I understand those circulars can be annoying and take up alot of space in your mailbox so I dont have a problem with people not wanting those. As far as other coupons and such, I dont see why people get so annoyed with them when if you look at the big picture that is money for the p.o. and job security for us middle class postal workers who in turn pump that money into the economy.

Lynn April 24, 2012 (1:34 pm)

Link for Phone books did not work for me

WSB April 24, 2012 (1:42 pm)

All three links in the story are working here … maybe you hit a flutter on the city website or some other problem? – TR

smokeycretin9 April 24, 2012 (1:43 pm)

It also makes a good marker to tell which one of your neighbors doesnt give a rats A$$, because the phone books will sit in their yard for months until one of the other neighbors goes and picks it up.

be informed, keep the phone books coming.

sb2780 April 24, 2012 (2:27 pm)

Does anyone know how to receive more circulars? I used to live by The Junction and got the Bartells circular, but then I moved over by Morgan Junction and it stopped coming. I know I can just go look it up online, but I like having a hard copy.

Aman April 24, 2012 (3:44 pm)

According to an artile from late last year the Post Office Business Model is outdated and no longer sustainable. (Link Below)

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=653e3f5c-74a1-4558-bbe3-58ddcce88b78

The U.S. Postal Service continues to be destroyed by FedEx, UPS and the Internet, and its future is looking bleak.

The service said this week that it lost $5.1 billion in the past year. And that’s after a prolonged cost-cutting effort that eliminated 130,000 jobs and shuttered smaller post offices.

Now the biggest thorn in the USPS’ side is rearing its ugly head again. The annual bill is due for the $5.5 billion needed to prefund retiree health care benefits. The service simply can’t make the Nov. 18 deadline with its current finances and is hoping to get an extension from Congress.

The Postal Service has tried to drum up business with cute commercials and expanded services. But mail volume has fallen by more than 20% since 2006, The Hill reports. The service’s biggest revenue contributor, first-class mail, dropped 6% in the last year alone.

The service says that without drastic changes, it will run out of cash — or be dangerously close to that point — by next September, Bloomberg reports. The service is classified as a self-supporting government enterprise.

So what can the USPS do at this point? Here are some options it’s considering.

Restructuring. The service is talking to potential advisers about a broad restructuring, Bloomberg reports. Some of those advisers helped the U.S. Treasury department deal with General Motors and Chrysler.

More layoffs. The USPS wants to cut 220,000 more jobs by 2015.

More location closings. The service is mulling a plan to close up to 12% of its locations, or 3,700 post offices. It’s also thinking about closing 252 of its 487 mail-sorting facilities, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Scrap that retiree prepayment. The service has asked Congress for permission to stop pre-funding retiree benefits.

Cancel Saturday delivery. It’s too costly, the serivce says.

But most of those options would run into fierce resistance from Postal Service unions, which have been very strong historically. Nearly 80% of USPS expenses go to labor costs, including retiree benefits, Bloomberg reports. That compares with 60% for UPS and 40% for FedEx.

The service says it will survive if it can just cut annual costs by $20 billion by 2015. But without drastic action from Congress and union leaders, the USPS is doomed.

datamuse April 24, 2012 (4:44 pm)

A, I’m a librarian and somehow we’re not only surviving the general move of information online, we’re thriving. Our user traffic, content usage, requests for teaching and assistance–all are up. Because we’re adapting as our old way of doing things becomes outdated.
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I suggest your industry look for ways to do the same, instead of berating people who hate wasting paper.

A April 24, 2012 (5:50 pm)

Datamuse-about 90% of what is in your library is junk to one person but is gold to the next. Just because you think advertising is junk doesn’t mean other people, especially the elderly think the same way. I never go to the library but my gf does. You are talking crap about the p.o. and yet you admittedly use our services on a regular basis. You should be smart enough to know that we need that advertising revenue to generate the funds and employees needed to get that package delivered for you or to get your grandma her prescription or deliver a birthday card to you. Back to your tv analogy cuz that’s a good one. Whatever show you watch you are gonna have to deal with crappy commercials. The commercials are a huge revenue for the networks and is what keeps them going. Think of the advertisements in the mail as our commercials. They are a huge part of our funding and without them we would not be able to provide the best postal service in the world. In this day of instant gratification and everything and everyone being connected to a computer it is nice to know you can still get a personal letter or birthday card that has sentimental value to it. I’ll take that anyday over an email that has no personal value to it whatsoever. It will be a very sad day for our economy and for alot of other things if we cannot sustain the postal service.

Jet April 24, 2012 (6:06 pm)

We just tried this and it seems as though it could be easier. Tons of links to other sites…I smell a plan to capture some information. Sometimes things are not as easy at it first seems.

a April 24, 2012 (6:14 pm)

actually datamuse we have adapted and adapted quite well thank you. We have used the internet to our advantage and our parcel business has picked up significantly. In fact, we would have made a profit of $20 million in the first quarter of this year alone. Not bad for a not for profit public service. Unfortunately our own government has us in a chokehold. Aman is absolutely correct in his statement that congress mandates that we prefund 5.5 billion dollars a year into our retirement account. Our account is now funded to the tune of 60-70 billion dollars. We are the only company in the U.S. that is required to make this prepayment. Without it, we are a profitable, sustainable business. I dont know about you but I don’t know of any company that can survive if it has a 5.5 billion dollar payment the government requires it to make. My opinion is the govenment uses this payment to make their overall deficit look smaller than it actually is. Get rid of that payment and we would be thriving. Oh, and it’s not wasting paper if you recycle it. :)
Kind of a funny statement coming from someone who works in a library. Tons of wasted paper in there if you ask me.

2 Much Whine April 24, 2012 (6:14 pm)

A, you are totally off base. First off, in my experience phone books are not delivered by the USPS – they are delivered by private companies. Secend, your argument is a little like saying that we should let all criminals out of jail because if it wasn’t for them, policemen wouldn’t have a job, we should stop recycling because miners and lumberjacks need jobs and we should always leave our lights on so the light bulb makers, dam builders and oil drillers can stay employed. Just forget the impact to the environment because it is far more important for us to keep consuming. Phonebooks are antiquated, a waste of resources and rarely used anymore. I don’t want one and I don’t want to get one delivered just so I can recycle it. I apologize if I am coming across as argumentative but opinions like yours are what is wrong with our government. I love the USPS and think they do a great job at a great price but what you are proposing is just plain silly.

a April 24, 2012 (7:11 pm)

2 much whine I agree with you about the phone books. They are obsolete and unfortunately we do deliver them. I think it’s dex or one of those companies that has us deliver them. Anyhow, my original comment was in response to WSB giving people the link to stop “junk mail” and had nothing to do with phone books. Not trying to start an argument with you, just want you to be informed as to what I was commenting on and what is going on with the p.o. I am not about overconsumption but I am about preserving jobs especially in this economy. I don’t know if you know this or not but the USPS is the largest civilian employer of veterans. Would be pretty sad to put all those vets and people like my self out of work just because you dont want to receive advertisements which pay our salary. I think people would gladly take that “junk mail” and recycle it rather than cry and moan about it if they knew what the consequences would be if that advertisement and all the jobs that it supports disappeared. I don’t know about you but I am seeing more and more homeless people lately as a result of this economy. I don’t know how many more homeless people this city and country can tolerate before things start getting really bad and quality of life for everyone declines rapidly. Support USPS and support middle class jobs is all I’m saying.

2 Much Whine April 24, 2012 (8:50 pm)

I love the USPS and the fact that they employ lots of good people. I just can’t see a difference between little stacks of junk mail that I don’t want showing up every day in my mailbox and a big phone book that I don’t want showing up once a year. Perhaps as people order more and more online products the USPS could do something to capitalize on that. I am all for helping folks that want stacks of coupons for things they want but I really don’t need coupons for tampons or diapers – why bother sending them to me so I can recycle them? Maybe the USPS could look toward the future and provide a service that would deliver coupons for products we actually use and want – of course without violating privacy laws. Just throwing stuff out there but, Kodak employed a lot of people as well and they didn’t get with the times (or get bailed out) – now there are a lot of good, former Kodak employees out of work. That’s capitalism – make a product or provide a service people want and the world will beat a path to your door.

Gennessee Hill April 25, 2012 (7:17 am)

A – you said it “I agree with you about the phone books. They are obsolete and unfortunately we do deliver them.” – An obsolete relic from the past, delivered by an inefficient and cost prohibitive beauracracy, from the past. Change is difficult but necessary. The post office needs a significant overhaul to remain solvent, and bailing it out with 12-15 billion this year is just pushing the peanut farther down the road to avoid an election year – which to me is abhorrent. Deal with the problems we have facing us. I would rather spend 15 billion on education and veterans benefits or paying down our national debt than Saturday delivery and overnight mail.

cr April 25, 2012 (8:48 am)

A- “I dont know about you but I don’t know of any company that can survive if it has a 5.5 billion dollar payment the government requires it to make.” Well that is because most companies do not have bloated pension plans. To continue to waste paper and annoy people just to keep you employed. No other company would survive on that business model. Look, we get it, you work for USPS and are scared to lose you job, and that’s unfortunate, but your argument that we need the post office to continue to function in its current capacity and continue to waste just to keep it afloat is just silly.

A April 25, 2012 (10:24 am)

Genesee we aren’t asking for a bailout. We are asking for congress to get out of our way and release us of that 5.5 billion dollar chokehold. Without that we would be profitable. The p.o. has been around since ben franklin appointed himself postmaster back in 1775. No company can last as long as we have without being able to adapt and meet the needs of an ever changing world. We can and will survive and even thrive if our government can stay out of our way. Usps is the second largest civilian employer in the U.S. trust me you do not want us to fail. If we fail, the economy fails and we will not recover.

Matt April 25, 2012 (12:18 pm)

Thanks for the link! We signed up last year and I added my Mother’s address this year. WSB = always helpful.

Dz April 25, 2012 (8:18 pm)

Seems that UPS and FedEx can make money with their business model. It would appear that the USPS needs to rediscover itself.

I’m not in favor of sending more people to unemployment, but it seems seriously foolish to have people just be employed to deliver junk mail. There are plenty of other jobs that can be created for people that create good. I mean, seriously, look at the fact that we don’t have people able to change out garbage bags on the beach. I realize that is an over simplification, but if the USPS was anything but a Government entity, it would be cutting BIG time to try and survive (as it appears it’s starting to). That, unfortunately, is what happens when a company becomes inefficient or outdated. Hopefully something good will come of it.

Doureallyuseit April 27, 2012 (3:45 pm)

Honestly when was the last time you actually used a phonebook. Dex tells businesses that 77% of adults in seattle have used the directory in the last 30 days what a lie. On thing they dont tell you is they fired all american based graphic artists and all ads produced in all books are now created in the phillipines. The yellowpages where once a great resource just like a typewritter was once a great tool for businesses. It’s time for you to go

WSB April 27, 2012 (4:04 pm)

I haven’t touched one in years – and I’m over 50! LOVED them pre-Internet. Especially when traveling – I would crack open the phone book in the motel/hotel room and just browse, looking for names of people I used to know, looking at the business ads … But this is what the Web is all about. I understand the difficulty of change, as my very first career-type profession, typesetter, is now obsolete – the trouble we used to go through just to get something set in ONE style of photo type, with early computer typesetting in the ’70s and early ’80s, and now, it’s ALL at the fingertips of ANYONE with a computer and printer, wow! I also sympathize with the Postal Service, but it’s not the workers’ fault … it’s the leadership’s fault for not seeing e-mail coming. Kind of like newspapers vs. online news, but I’d better stop there – TR

Middle Ager May 2, 2012 (7:17 am)

Not certain why the phone book is considered such a burden. From what I’ve read it’s made from post production paper materials. I still use it. Of additional interest to me is the amount of toxic waste we’re accumulating as a result of cell phone upgrades year to year.