Cancelling the Phone Book

Photo Source: heather

Standing in my apartment building entry way last week was a monument to wastefulness.  Stacked 4 ft high and wide, a crate of 100 new phonebooks stood silhouetted by the sunlight.   As I rode the elevator upstairs all I could think about was how many trees were cut down to make our new paper statue.  It turns out our hundred phonebooks are a mere drop in the ocean.  Every year Yellow and White Pages produce about 500 million phone books.  The cost of this production is 19 million trees resulting in 1.6 billion pounds of paper that often goes unused. 

To end this cycle of waste two things can be done. First, it is important to note that all phonebooks are recyclable.  So if you are replacing your old edition or just disposing your new phonebook, send it to the recycle bin.  If your municipality doesn’t take phone books, Earth911 will provide you with additional recycling information.  Second, you have the option of cancelling the delivery of the phonebook.  Similar to opting out of junk mail, all that needs to be done is to fill out a short form on the grassroots website Yellowpagesgoesgreen.org.  This service is free and we encourage you to take the 30 seconds to complete this form.  Your name or business will then be removed from the future mailing list of the phonebook companies.