Stop store circulars from littering our stoops!

This is one community protest I can get behind. I believe some residents on the UWS a couple of years ago actually managed to get some local political support behind some kind of measure, although I'm not sure how useful it ended up being.

Let's see... what can we do to stop the pointless, annoying, pieces of paper that end up on our doorsteps? Ah, a letter writing campaign... that's it, fight fire with fire.

Just playing with you flexi... I don't actually believe a letter writting campaign will do much good (I won't go into the reasons here)... what could work is the following:

DOCUMENT - the amount of trash that is created. Document the stores and companies that are involved. Interview the people that leave the trash on your doorstep... I'll bet they have something to say about their pay/working conditions/ and their employer.

Website - compile your weeks of research and post it on a website.

Press - get the press involved... publicity is the key here. There are ways. Perhaps someone slips on the paper, perhaps it starts a small fire near the Tea lounge... maybe you know a writer at the SLope REader or something..

Boycott - I've personally boycotted a number of Slope businesses... WHAT? they are still open? Of course they are, I'm only one person... a boycott needs to have mass (see above).

It's not just littering. They're putting us at some risk of liability by opening our gates and entering.

I think it would sink in if we arrived in groups at their establishment, each bearing his/her leaflet and an individual letter stating our intent to boycott until they leave us alone. (Hard to organize when we don't know our block neighbors, though.) Phonecalls to the numbers listed on the leaflets might also help, if in sufficient number. Wishful thinking, I know. (And I haven't yet done any one of these things myself :oops: )

I have used the bags for that purpose too. But I would still prefer not to have all that stuff thrown onto my stoop. Also -- lately the circulars have been sealed in the plastic, so it's useless for poop-scooping, and as a conscientious recycler, I feel compelled to separate the paper and plastic. It just pisses me off -- someone else litters my property and I have to clean it up every day.

Just 2 cats. I have plenty of meaningful relationships with humans, but being the single chick with cats is just part of my schtick :-)

Anonymous wrote: I saved up all the Pathmark circulars for a month, then took them down to Pathmark, walked into the store and dumped them out on the floor. Perhaps we could get a group together to do the same. That should get the attention of the store manager. Hey, I think you left these on my stoop, just wanted to return you your property![/code]

This is what my proposed solution would be. How did the store react?

Flexichick wrote: Just 2 cats. I have plenty of meaningful relationships with humans, but being the single chick with cats is just part of my schtick :-)

I'd like to give you part of my schtick.....mmmmmmm.

i like to get menus but the flyers have to be stop.

i like the idea of saving tons of them and dumping them at those stores .

Username: * wrote: How am I supposed to know what Pathmark has on sale, anyway?

FWIW: Pathmark, Fairway, and Key Food (i don't know about any other supermakets since i don't shop anywhere else) all post their circulars online. i know that's not practical for folks who don't have a computer, obviously, but as for the rest of us.....

Username: * wrote: [quote=Anonymous]I saved up all the Pathmark circulars for a month, then took them down to Pathmark, walked into the store and dumped them out on the floor.

Your reaction to this -- if, in fact, you actually did that, which I cannot believe -- stretches my imagination. Is it because I live in a building with only two other tenants that I don't get why this bothers anyone?

My husband did the same thing after Domino's dumped no less than a dozen menus in our front yard -- took them down to Dominos and threw them on the floor. Temporarily satisfying, but to be at all effective, you'd have to have a lot of people do it on a particular date, and publicize it.

Why does it bother anyone? Well, it is not the worst problem in my life, but it's annoying. I live in a small single-family house, and I get multiple copies of circulars, menus and flyers almost every single day, thrown on my stoop or into my front yard. On a windy day, they blow around and make a mess. I don't want this stuff, I'm not interested, as far as I'm concerned it's just litter that I have to pick up every single day. If I go on vacation or even away for the weekend, it piles up on my stoop and everyone walking by can see that no one's home.

As I see it, people are throwing litter onto my property, and placing the burden on me to clean up. Not to mention the burden on the city sanitation department to haul away all this unwanted paper and plastic.

Rose wrote: My husband did the same thing after Domino's dumped no less than a dozen menus in our front yard -- took them down to Dominos and threw them on the floor.

(Sigh.) :oops: I just don't think this is the sort of civil disobedience Emerson had in mind.

What is it about my neighbors that they are quick to exhibit such, uhm, can I call it "rage"? And where do you draw the line, when assessing the trash on your stoop? It doesn't all come from Pathmark. A census of the detritus on my block shows more newspaper, half-eaten food and empty drink containers. Would you propose that I gather up the broken glass from the 40-ouncer left on my steps and stuff it down the shorts of the drunk who left it there?

Carnivore wrote: [quote=armchair_warrior]after much thinking i'm gonna find a sign that says no flyers. anyone could point me to the right direction?

I think I might have seen that advertised in a Home Depot flyer.

cool thanks. just check their website. doesnt have it. but they might have it in their stores .

armchair_warrior wrote: [quote=Carnivore][quote=armchair_warrior]after much thinking i'm gonna find a sign that says no flyers. anyone could point me to the right direction?

I think I might have seen that advertised in a Home Depot flyer.

cool thanks. just check their website. doesnt have it. but they might have it in their stores .
Hey, that was supposed to be a joke! :evil: