photo courtesy Justin Horrocks/istockphoto
Several years ago I had an opportunity to tour a printing press in California. The showpiece of the facility was a three-story-tall press that ran 24/7, 365 days a year, gobbling up yellow paper and excreting out... phone books. All year long, every year: it never shuts down.
It constantly amazes me every time a phone book (or stack of them) appears on the doorstep of my building. "Does ANYONE use these anymore?" The waste of paper alone seems colossal. A little research reveals that I am not alone: the accumulating stacks of useless phone books are a fairly popular topic in the blogosphere.
As it turns out, phone books are still a lucrative $14 billion industry in America. Although 3 out of 4 persons in the U.S. now have internet access at home, that still leaves 25% of us "letting our fingers do the walking" when looking up a plumber. Yes, that number is declining, and phone books will eventually go the way of the dodo; but until then the directory makers are competing to outdo each other in "saturation distribution".
What can you do? Can you put a stop to this squandering of trees and energy? Well... maybe. The Paperless Petition website asks you to sign a petition against the mass distribution of Yellow Pages (and even gives you contact info for the president of the Yellow Pages Association so you can let him know how you feel about the subject.) But what about stopping the delivery to your residence? Can you opt out, as some have asked? According to FutureGringo.com (crediting a news report by Channel 9/KUSA) you can call 1-800 numbers to be removed from the distribution lists for some major Yellow Pages creators:
Call 1-877-243-8339 to opt-out of receiving DEX phone books. Call 1-800-929-3556 to opt-out of receiving Yellow Book directories. If you want to opt-out of the Verizon phone book, you can call 800-555-4833. The catch however? You MUST provide your phone number, so they can call you back next year to make sure you still hate phone books.
And if that doesn't work, you could always come up with a creative way to repurpose the heavy yellow books cluttering your doorstep.
3 comments:
Nice post! I agree that phone books are a big waste of paper most of the time, but there are still people (seniors, etc.) who will never use anything else. Because of that, I doubt this "dodo" will be extinct for quite awhile.
As for me, thanks for the opt-out numbers!
Consumers can now “opt out” of receiving telephone books at www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org. This organization will contact the publishers and inform them to stop delivering books. This is a free service for consumers. www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org is working with state and local governments on ordinances concerning the delivery of unsolicited telephone books. www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org is not against the telephone books but against the delivery of 4 to 5 pounds of paper on people’s door step 5 to 6 times per year and being told it is our responsibility to recycle something we did not ask for. If we need a book we will call. Otherwise I “opt out” from receiving it.
Excellent! Thanks the tip.
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