Who You Gonna Call?
Perhaps you have already cut back on junk mail, but you are still receiving a plethora of phone books multiple times a year. If you’re like me, you rely on the internet and free information via your cell phone to access your local listings, and don’t really have a need for the traditional printed directory. If that’s the case, you have to check out YellowPagesGoesGreen.org, a site that allows you to sign up and stop the delivery of unsolicited telephone books for free!
According to the YellowPagesGoesGreen.org web site, over 500 million of these directories are printed every year to produce 500 million books: 19 million trees need to be harvested, 1.6 billion pounds of paper are wasted, 7.2 million barrels of oil are misspent in their processing (not including the wasted gas used for their delivery to your doorstep), 268,000 cubic yards of landfill are taken up and 3.2 billion kilowatts of energy are squandered.
So ask yourself if you could go without the Yellow and White Pages, and sign up today. If you do in fact rely on your printed versions, please check for locations in your area that recycles them. (Indy residents can drop them off at Indianapolis Recycled Fiber. See KIBI.org for more details.)
This is great — any word on a similar service for Canadians? Three phone books were dropped off on my front porch last week, and so far it seems that none of the apartments in my house have any interest in them. Such a waste…
Comment by Kelly — April 9, 2008
Thanks. Those statistics are downright frightening. I’ve taken my old phone books for recycling many times. It’d be better to just avoid getting them in the first place.
Comment by Kevin — April 9, 2008
http://www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org will contact all publishers in North America. I have not found a similar service in Canada but the more we have the better chance we have of stopping the unsolicited delivery of telephone books. http://www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org is not anti-Yellow Pages. Just against the delivery of books to people and businesses that do not want them. If I “opt out” quit sending them to me. Here are phone numbers of the publishers if you would like to call them instead: The directory publishers listed make it possible for you to stop receiving their books, but they don’t make it easy. None of the menu options includes “opting-out”. Follow the roadmap and you should get to a customer service representative who can help you.
— ATT/ Yellow Pages: 1-800-479-2977
— Verizon: 800-555-4833, press 4, then 5, then 2
— DEX: 1-877-243-8339, press 2
— Yellow Book: 1-800-929-3556, press 2
Comment by Philip — April 9, 2008
Thanks for the info and phone numebrs Philip!
Comment by Rhaya — April 9, 2008