I’m one of many concerned citizens who wants to curb the number of unwanted phone books left on curbs. And also doorsteps, porches, lobbies, and foyers.

We don’t have meetings at Perkin’s or anything, however most of us have blogs where we document cases of wastefulness. We can respond to Yellow Pages’ marketers and have engaging discussions about why SO MANY unused print directories are created and distributed. (Answer: Circulation and ad sales.) It also creates a venue where phone book employees can drop in and pretend to be businesses which still thrive upon the phone book’s circulation - as seen here in the fifth comment of The Deet’s blog.

I took these photos while biking around in industrial neighborhood of Denver last weekend. Note these are THREE different books. Which means at one point a book was lying there, (or two books,) and a delivery person threw another one at the building. I admit it was probably 4am when the free lance employees were driving around in their trucks chucking out books left and right. However this building is obviously unattended with the windows darkened, doors boarded up, and weeds growing out of the concrete. I don’t think the ghosts of the former employees have any need for one phone book much less three.

Nobody is against phone books and their publishers, however we are for strict opt out lists – or at least opt out lists that are at least ATTEMPTED to be followed rather than completely ignored. Also we are for ceasing delivery at vacant houses and buildings, and stopping the practice of delivering pallets upon pallets of yellow pages to apartment buildings and office complexes.

My posts on Yellow Pages/Phone book waste.
Minneapolis blogger Ed Kohler’s articles and analysis of YP companies and waste.