I despise phone books. A brand new pile winds up on our curb every summer and when all is said and done I have this tremendous stack of seven that rarely, if ever, get used (with the exception of an occasional makeshift “booster seat!”).
I wrote about my frustrations with phone books before, but I just read an article announcing encouraging progress. Ohio state regulators just gave permission for AT&T to stop dropping white pages at our doorstep and you’ll have to request one if you want it. Hmmm…. “gave them permission”, huh? So does that mean that the industry is listening to us and projects like yellowpagesGoesGreen.org are making a difference?… I sure hope so.
It was pointed out that, with the growth of cell phones, residential phone books are becoming less relevant (since cell phone numbers aren’t listed) because 60% of the phone numbers in Ohio ARE cell phones. This move will eliminate nearly a million books in Cleveland and 11.68 million statewide!
I wish I knew how this happened. I wish I could tell everyone what to do to see that their state follows suit… but maybe you should contact your local phone company and ask them.
Now, I admit that I have always had this deep-seated desire to be a “guide name” at the top of a page, but I’m willing to give up that dream if it means conservation will happen!
Disclosure Policy
I am so with you on the phone book deal. It is one of my pet peeves and I have complained about it before. Facts like these below make me angry every time. As of right now we have 11 phone books sitting in the cabinet all of which will get replaced with new ones this year. I can’t remember the last time I pulled one out and you are right, all they are good for is booster seats and door stoppers. I say stop the waste nation wide and let people opt in if they WANT one.
500 phone books take:– according to a study in California
17 to 31 trees- depending on how much is new paper and how is recycled paper
4100 kwh (a 3 bdrm house in Colorado uses about 600 -1500 kwh per month– so that about 3-6 months of electricity)
7000 gallons of water ( that’s about 14 gallons of water per book )
Then –how many gallons of gasoline for the delivery trucks? Gas for the trash trucks? Gas for the recycling trucks?
sharis last blog post..Best Hospitals Near You
shari – Thanks for for the great input… it certainly solidifies why we “opting in” would be a much better solution!
I hate phone books too. I carry them around in my car looking for the phone book recycling center and then get rid of it as soon as possibly. With the internet phone books the paper ones are outdated. Glad to know I am not the only one!
Jessicas last blog post..Just had to ask
Jessica – you’re definitely not the only one! The bad part is that there aren’t enough others, like us, that will do everything possible to see that they get recycled!
I was so excited when I opted out — and then the next day, it arrived in the mail! Of course poor timing, but I was ticked. I agree with everyone else, it’s so outdated at this point!
Frannie – OneGreenMommys last blog post..Plant It Forward
Frannie – I’ve always considered the “opt out” as a ‘movement to voice our opposition to phone books’ as opposed to an action that will see any true results, but this move in Ohio is definitely a glimmer of hope! Call your local provider and see if they are taking any action!
phonebooks are my white whale. I’ve been fighting the battle for the last 5 years. We live on the edge of two metro areas (Cleveland & Akron) so we get 2x the number of phone books. It’s virtually impossible to get through to a real person that represents the phone book companies unless you want to advertise. I’m now down to getting just 1-2 unwanted phone books per year. They go straight to the recycler still in the plastic wrapper.
chris – oh, double whammy! Two metro areas. Not good! But glad you at least recycle them. I cringe at the thought of how many people actually drop them in their trash can!
Add A Comment