Throw the book at 'em

Is it time to get rid of phone books? 9

phone book wasteWhen was the last time you looked up something in the phone book? What did you do the last time you got a free phone book dropped off on your doorstep—did you recycle it? If you’re like most people these days, your answers to those questions are probably “I don’t remember” and “No.”

WhitePages, an online directory service, recently released the results of a survey it conducted indicating that only 15.9 percent of U.S. adults recycle their old or unwanted phone books, and that U.S. citizens are largely unaware of the environmental impact of printing and delivering so many phone books (five million trees cut down every year!). WhitePages is sponsoring a “Ban the Phone Book” initiative to encourage the creation of “opt-in” programs, wherein citizens would only receive a phone book if they requested one. In the survey, 81 percent of respondents said they’d support such a program. Many states currently require phone companies to provide phone books to all landline subscribers, even as the internet threatens to make physical phone books obsolete.

Some states and phone companies already have “opt-out” programs, similar to do-not-call registries for telemarketers, allowing subscribers to indicate that they don’t wish the receive the phone book. Proponents of “opt-in” programs, however, say that they’re easier for consumers and more effective in reducing waste. Cincinnati Bell started an opt-in program earlier this year, bringing their White Pages online and only providing the printed version to customers who ask for it. In Florida, AT&T plans to test out an opt-in program for its White Pages in four cities this fall. The company is considering a similar program in Missouri’s metropolitan areas as well.

If your area doesn’t have opt-in or opt-out programs yet, you can lobby your local government or landline provider, while in the meantime making sure to recycle the unwanted phone books that get dumped on your doorstep.

 

 

Claire Thompson is an editorial intern at Grist. She is studying journalism at Northwestern University.

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  1. evil is evil Posted 1:44 am
    26 Aug 2009

    In 200l, I had to meet a Phoeinx bus downtown,  This was directly acroos from a well attended restaurant.From the bus stop directly acroos the street I would watch as the garbage collector machines would first carefully empty the restaurant's garbage then go over to the "drop your used telephone here for recycling"and drop it in on top of the restaurant's garbage.  Think you have a recycling plan in your city? Follow the barbage trucks.  I will guarnteefuckingt that less than 10 per cent of all phone books are recycled.

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    1. SteamingPile Posted 6:38 am
      26 Aug 2009

      We caught our waste collector putting recycle in the regular garbage truck.  When confronted, the driver lamely offered the explanation that he was collecting the recycle on behalf of the regular recycle guy so he wouldn't have to drive up our dead-end street.  We fired them and got somebody else to pick up our refuse (for less money).  I think our house was the last one on the street using the offending waste collection company, so I guess their recycle guy got his wish and no longer has to drive up our street to pick up our paper and plastic.

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  2. gregoryheller Posted 9:49 am
    26 Aug 2009

    Phonebooks are archaic.  The companies that print them basically are robbing their advertisers by inflating their circulation numbers when probably 90% of the books circulated get sent right to the recycling pile.  While some companies like DEX do let you opt out of receiving them, they force you to give them a ton of information to do so.  If you want a print phonebook you should have to request it, not the other way around (if you don't want one you have to opt out).I haven't opened a phonebook in probably a decade, and I imagine that many younger people have never opened one in their lives.

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    1. SteamingPile Posted 10:31 am
      26 Aug 2009

      I use mine, because I don't want to have to fire up my computer every time I need to look up a number.  The book is actually more convenient when you take that into account, and probably greener, too.  You don't keep your computer on all the time at home, do you?
      That said, I don't need one from every third-party that makes phone books, nor do I need to have one from my phone company every single year.  I take that back; the Yellow pages probably requries more frequent updating than the White pages.  So my ideal would be a new White Pages every other year, and a Yellow Pages every year, and only from my telephone service provider.

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  3. 2GreenMen's avatar

    2GreenMen Posted 11:38 am
    26 Aug 2009

     The guilt I feel for having this delivered to my door is heavier than the book itself...heavier than the truck that hauled it to my house.I could not agree more with G.Hellor, "If you want a printed phonebook you should have to request it, not the other way around (if you don't want one you have to opt out)."I also "haven't opened a phonebook in probably a decade."  

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  4. sherrieh's avatar

    sherrieh Posted 3:47 pm
    26 Aug 2009

    It seems that as I use them less, I receive more of them: in my little town west of Boston I get FOUR phonebooks a year from three different publishers.  They're all small, but sheesh.

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  5. Akshay Posted 6:13 pm
    26 Aug 2009

    I live in India, and how it works here is that you can turn in your old phonebook for a new one, and if you pay an extra $2, you get a CD instead of a book. I think it's far more efficient this way. 

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  6. momz's avatar

    momz Posted 10:36 am
    27 Aug 2009

    Yes.

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  7. Storm Dragon Posted 12:34 pm
    29 Aug 2009

    I actually use my phone book quite a bit.  The fact is, "hard copies" are often more accessible and dependable than their on-line counterparts.  Those individuals who feel that they don't need a telephone book should certainly have the right to refuse one, but to declare them "obsolete", and eliminate them altogether, would be premature and unwise.  We just aren't there, yet.  (That said, I would like to see legislation requiring the telephone companies to print there books on recycled paper.)

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