Ever since Al Gore invented the internet, there's a day each year when I find myself getting a little annoyed. It's the day that three or seven or twelve thick, heavy, plastic wrapped yellow pages directories show up at my doorstep.
Now that we can easily search for any business, good or service by typing a few key words into a search engine, the yellow pages seem to have diminishing use. I mean, I can think of a few ways to actually make use of the book -- booster seat? step stool? -- but for the most part, this is an item whose time has passed.
To make matters worse, something that isn't useful is often wasteful, and in this case we are talking about a LOT of paper getting wasted. In the US alone, 540 MILLION directories are printed each year -- that's 1.79 books for every man, woman and child. And each book weighs 3.62 pounds, so if even half of them get thrown away, we're talking about 488,700 TONS of paper ending up in landfill unnecessarily.
Enter Yellow Pages Goes Green, the genius solution to this problem. As the story goes, a college student from Liberty, MO got fed up and founded a movement. They’re educating American consumers with the goal of soliciting voluntary action by the directory makers to make home delivery “request-it-if-you-want-it”, rather than “we’re-delivering-it-whether-you-like-it-or-not”. In the meantime, use their handy online tool to take your name off the list.
Help make the yellow pages one of those old-timey fixtures of the past that you’ll tell your incredulous grand kids about. Visit Yellow Pages Goes Green today!
