Most people nowadays really don’t need a phone book. Since last year I think I used mine exactly once, and that was when my laptop died and I didn’t have Internet. Had I planned ahead for such an issue, I would have had the computer repair folks number on my cell, and avoided the phone book.

The problem with phone books is that they’re huge, full of paper (most of which you’ll never use) and in my town they come wrapped in plastic. You can recycle phone books but both making them and recycling them takes energy and resources, so why get one and waste those resources if you never use it? According to Paperless Petition, the Yellow Pages industry dropped 540 million printed directories this year, which was actually more than one per person. Not to mention that besides Yellow Pages, many towns now have their own local books. With all the internet resources handy, more than one phone book per person is totally lame, and a waste. For example, you can use…

• YellowPages.com
• SuperPages
• Switchboard
• Canada411
• National Green Pages
• OR just look up a store by name.

A major issue is that it’s almost impossible to NOT get a phone book. I’ve asked nicely not to be given one and still they show up on my doorstep. Paperless Petition has a petition you can sign to help create an opt-out option. Plus they’ve recently expanded to cover English-speaking pals in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Do you want a new phone book each year or is this a stack of paper you can live without?

Post from: Blisstree

You don’t need a phone book