The City of San Francisco will be among the first to promote green business directories starting May. From the next May, business directories publishers will face up to $500 in fines for delivering yellow page directories to residents who had not requested for them or accepted them upon delivery.
It is a first in the world of business directories in the country and should be a role model for the other states as it seeks to prevent waste and preserve sources via this legislation. YellowPagesGoesGreen.org, which is an online directory of business listings has partnered with Green Chamber of Commerce to give a boost to such initiatives by the state which is aimed at unwanted business directories. Seattle also recently enacted its own law regarding business directories where companies delivering yellow directories to residents who have chosen to opt out of it are fined $125 per violation. The Seattle law faced a legal challenge which it successfully withstood and now even the San Francisco law is being challenged in the court.