# Free newspaper delivery w/no subscription = littering? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 19, 2007, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747 "2007-09-19T15:04:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/21 "2007-09-19T22:22:12Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] So what your saying is that I can get a ticket for throwing garbage on the ground, but I can’t get a ticket for tucking garbage under other peoples wiper blades? [/QUOTE] Not to put too fine a point on it, but unless there is a local ordinance prohibiting that form of advertising, yes. Localities differ in the applicability of littering and/or trespass laws to stuff stuck under your windshield wipers, dropped on your doorstep, hung from your front doorhandle, tossed in your driveway, etc. > [@](#): > > Are they just dropped on your doorstep? We have a letterbox in our door, what alot of people do is once their mail has been delivered in the morning they jam a broom or what have you up against the letter box so no one can deliver junk notices or free newspapers. Your location field indicates Ireland. In the US, one place this sort of crap DOES NOT turn up is in your mailbox. The US Postal Service makes no bones about nothing but US mail being allowed to get delivered through the mailbox, whose interior they claim is actually the property of the USPS. People who distribute ad circulars and free newspapers know to steer clear of your mailbox. They won’t shove stuff through a front door slot like I have, either. This is why rural delivery of newspapers via “tube route” requires the newspaper to provide the customer with their own tube for the paper to be mounted next to the mailbox. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/22 "2007-09-20T00:16:56Z")
Throwing litter on the ground is wrong regardless of why it’s in your possession. Throw it in the trash or take it in to the business where you were shopping. The retailer I worked at called the people on the fliers and let them know the the store would not allow it to continue. The company would have pursued this with a lawyer if need be. The neighbors at different times have thrown there garbage mail and papers.on the ground, and it ends up in our yard. You can actually get a foot high pile of paper under the mail box after the snow melts. These have been renter’s and if they don’t wish to stop when told we are not happy with their trash, we will call the police. A suggestion if they deliver it in a box for the free paper is that you take down the box. They stop delivering if the box is gone. I don’t want the free papers, but when it comes US mail all you can do is pile it up and trash it, or remove the mail box too. You can leave the free papers in post office trash when you go there to get your mail they no longer deliver. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/23 "2007-09-20T04:04:41Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] So what your saying is that I can get a ticket for throwing garbage on the ground, but I can’t get a ticket for tucking garbage under other peoples wiper blades? [/QUOTE] In most jurisdictions, yes. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/24 "2007-09-20T06:27:55Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] In most jurisdictions, yes. [/QUOTE] Yep. In general, if the paper has “legitimate editorial content” it is protected. _In some areas,_ 100% advertising papers _may_ not be. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/25 "2007-09-20T07:16:11Z")
[QUOTE=Edward The Head] I was going to ask this same question, except the paper I get is a normal newspaper. My wife had asked them before to stop and they said they can’t because it’s too hard to know where not to deliver. I emailed them last week to ask them to stop and they said they would. I figure if they don’t then I’ll start collecting them and drop them off on their front door. . [/QUOTE] There was a similar issue here in Baltimore last year when a new free daily, _The Examiner_, started delivering newspapers to people’s front door. Some people didn’t want them and told the paper so. The person on the other end of the phone would agree to stop delivery, but the papers would just keep coming. The paper said that the fault rested with the delivery drivers, who were not complying with the requests to stop delivery. After a while, some people began to get very pissed off. These types of deliveries are a nuisance, and they can also open you up to things like burglary. There’s no better indicator that someone is away on vacation than five or six uncollected newspapers sitting on the front lawn. Anyway, the folks at the paper finally made clear the the delivery drivers that people who had requested to be left off the delivery list should not get papers delivered to them. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/26 "2007-09-20T11:49:32Z")
Oddly enough, I just wrote a staff report that touches on this. Ed willing, it goes up Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![InLucemEdita](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7ab992/32.png) [@InLucemEdita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InLucemEdita)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/27 "2007-09-20T12:30:45Z")
My experience with free papers. I called twice to get delivery stopped the first time. Then delivery would start again approximately every 3 months. It became obvious that this signaled the arrival of a new delivery driver. So a polite phone call every 3 months or so was enough to keep the garbage off of the lawn. The person on the other end of the line was always very polite and apologetic when reminded that I had called numerous times. I didn’t like the bother of calling numerous times, but didn’t see any other option, and it was better than picking up the trash every week. ---
**Author:** ![I-Carumba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@I-Carumba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I-Carumba)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/28 "2007-09-20T13:14:09Z")
We have faced this situation several times over the past few years. It’s littering, plain & simple, in my opinion to throw something in someones yard without being asked. I used to call or email & ask them to stop and they would comply until their distributor changed and the new one would just start throwing to everyone again. I complained to our city secretary who passed my complaint to the chief of police & the city attorney. They both contacted me and the city attorney stated that I could file a complaint against them with his office which may or may not go to court. (depending on their workload, apparently) These days, I get nasty about it. I call, email, threaten with complaint to the BBB, and send the editors of these ‘free’ newspapers snarky emails. In the case of one, there was no ‘contact us’ area on their website, but there was an area to post advertising (which they charge for of course), so I submitted a lengthy ad stating that I would like this newspaper to stop throwing trash in my yard while I was on vacation and the fact that I was going to sue them for any damage to my house caused by the fact that their ‘free’ newspaper was broadcasting the fact that no one was home. They didn’t publish the ad of course, but they DID get the message. Same thing goes for these stupid ‘free’ telephone directories. Who the hell doesn’t use the Internet to search for a phone number of address these days? ---
**Author:** ![I-Carumba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@I-Carumba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I-Carumba)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/29 "2007-09-20T13:15:41Z")
We have faced this situation several times over the past few years. It’s littering, plain & simple, in my opinion to throw something in someones yard without being asked. I used to call or email & ask them to stop and they would comply until their distributor changed and the new one would just start throwing to everyone again. I complained to our city secretary who passed my complaint to the chief of police & the city attorney. They both contacted me and the city attorney stated that I could file a complaint against them with his office which may or may not go to court. (depending on their workload, apparently) These days, I get nasty about it. I call, email, threaten with complaint to the BBB, and send the editors of these ‘free’ newspapers snarky emails. In the case of one, there was no ‘contact us’ area on their website, but there was an area to post advertising (which they charge for of course), so I submitted a lengthy ad stating that I would like this newspaper to stop throwing trash in my yard while I was on vacation and the fact that I was going to sue them for any damage to my house caused by the fact that their ‘free’ newspaper was broadcasting the fact that no one was home. They didn’t publish the ad of course, but they DID get the message. Same thing goes for these stupid ‘free’ telephone directories. Who the hell doesn’t use the Internet to search for a phone number or address these days? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2007, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/30 "2007-09-21T23:49:31Z")
[QUOTE=Gfactor] Oddly enough, I just wrote a staff report that touches on this. [/QUOTE] And here it is: [Can I legally prevent people from putting flyers under my door or on my windshield?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msolicitation.html) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/31 "2007-09-22T00:33:29Z")
Neat! Cool report. I’m tempted to put up a sign telling the god-botherers and the charity collectors and assorted cause-pushers, as well as menu distributors, to stay away. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747/32 "2007-09-22T01:03:08Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Neat! Cool report. I’m tempted to put up a sign telling the god-botherers and the charity collectors and assorted cause-pushers, as well as menu distributors, to stay away. [/QUOTE] The City of Baltimore has a code section that makes it a misemeanor to: to solicit: > [@](#): > > on private property or residential property, if the owner, tenant, or occupant has asked the person not to solicit on the property or has posted a sign on the property indicating no soliciting but defines soliciting narrowly: > [@](#): > > (1) “Soliciting” means any act by which 1 person requests an immediate donation of money or other thing of value from another or others in person, regardless of the solicitor’s purpose or intended use of the money or other thing of value. > (2) The solicitation may be oral, written, or by other means of communication. [http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/charterandcodes/Code/Art%2019%20-%20PoliceOrds.pdf](http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/charterandcodes/Code/Art%2019%20-%20PoliceOrds.pdf) It also prohibits dumping and littering on private property: > [@](#): > > § 7-604. Dumping on private property. > No person may dump or otherwise dispose of any earth, dirt, sand, ashes, gravel, rocks, garbage, waste, or any other matter on any private property without the permission of the property owner or the owner’s agent. > (City Code, 1976/83, art. 11, §§135, 160(1st cl.).) (Ord. 99-548.) > [@](#): > > § 7-701. “Litter” defined. > “Litter” means to discard or otherwise dispose of, in any way other than as authorized by § 7-601 of this title, of small amounts of paper, beverage containers, glass, garbage, or other waste that: > (1) weigh less than 1 pound; > (2) comprise less than 1 cubic foot; and > (3) are not toxic, noxious, or otherwise a threat to the public health or safety. > (City Code, 1976/83, art. 11, §254(b), (c)(part).) (Ord. 99-548.) > § 7-702. Littering prohibited. > No person may: > (1) litter on any public or private property; or > (2) permit the accumulation of litter on any property under that person’s control. > (City Code, 1976/83, art. 11, §264(c).) (Ord. 99-548. [http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/charterandcodes/Code/Art%2000%20-%20Health.pdf](http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/charterandcodes/Code/Art%2000%20-%20Health.pdf) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/free-newspaper-delivery-w-no-subscription-littering/419747.md?page=1)