Phone Books….Not Eco-Friendly…
I cringe everytime we get one…
Those useless (at least to me) behemoth phone books that seem to come twice (or more?) a year!
It has been many years since I have actually used one… I don’t even open them anymore instead preferring to go online and search for what I am looking for. It is much more enjoyable to actually view a company website and see what they have to offer than thumb through a bulky paper-wasting phone book! Our unwanted phone books go directly into the recycle bin…but even the recycle companies don’t want them!
Unwanted Phone Books Keep Piling Up
SEATTLE – Over the years, enthusiasm over the phone book has steadily faded, giving way to online directories and information services on cell phones.
Yet there are more phone books than ever.
“There’s more than 15,000 tons of phone books distributed in Washington state every year,” said Tom Watson, King County eco-consumer.
They show up several times a year on doorsteps, whether they’re wanted or not. Anne Lee found her new phone book Wednesday outside the back door of her town home.
“Then I came back in and later that afternoon and looked, there’s one at the front door,” she said.
Sometimes they never even make it to the doorway; they just get dumped at the mailboxes. The best case scenario is they end up at the recycle center, and they’re not even wanted there.
“Even though we are equipped to handle them and put them into our mixed paper, they do require special handling,” said Rita Smith, of Waste Management Recycling.
Phone books are too heavy for most of the recycling equipment, so workers have to constantly hand remove them from the recycling stream.
An effort to require companies to allow residents to avoid getting them is struggling in the state Legislature, prompting many customers to make direct pleas to the distributors.
But, with advertisers paying big bucks, phone book companies will be reluctant to change.
Dex and Verizon told KING 5 Thursday they could easily remove an address from the phone book list.
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Rebecca
Country Meadow Ltd.
Eco-Friendly Spa Products
Gentle on your body…
Gentle on the earth…
