I have a Yellow Pages, and probably a Thompsons - somewhere!
Like many people I haven't used them for years - why would I need to when the internet is so much quicker, uptodate, easier......
So, I'd like to be able to 'opt-out' of receiving the books. I believe that an 'opt-out' scheme is the way to go, then those who really do want a copy and will use it will still get one - and those who leave them to go soggy on doorsteps for weeks, or put them straight in the bin (or recycyling if you can find a facility to take it) don't need to have one.
So, you can sign a petition (hell, it might do some good!) - http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/NoPhonebooks/ -
There are various other websites about this - http://www.saynotophonebooks.org/ - is the main one (although I'll point out it is being run by 192.com, an online directory company who obviously have a vested interest!).
I've had a wander around the web looking for phone numbers for Yellow Pages to get the directories cancelled - and they aren't easy to find. I came up with the following -
BT Phone book - 0800 833 400
Yellow Pages - 0800 671 444
Thompsons (customer services) - 01252 555 555
The text below comes from the petition website for a little background info -
75 million phonebooks are produced and delivered each year, amounting to an estimated 75,000 tonnes of annual waste, enough to cover Hyde Park twice!
Add in the cost of manufacturing, delivering and recycling phone books, this equals a totally unnecessary and avoidable environmental burden.
The estimated amount of resources wasted include:
• 680,000 barrels of oil (not including petrol wasted during delivery) • 2 billion litres of water (not including water wasted in the recycling process) • 437 million kilowatts of energy (not including the recycling process) equates to enough energy to power 112,000 three bedroom houses for a year
From production to recycling, 75,000 tonnes of phonebooks equates to 96,000 metric tonnes of wasted carbon emissions!
1 comment:
Postscript - I informed Yellow Pages that I didn't want copies to be delivered anymore - they said okay and that no more would arrive at my house!
What a blatant lie! Since the directories are delivered by casual workers who really just throw them at the front door there is no way for Yellow Pages to remove an address from their list - cause the don't have one!!
All houses get a YPs, whether they want or need one - and Yellow Pages are wrong to suggest otherwise.
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