They want the number of directories printed – more than 22.5 million in 2009-10 (52,000 tonnes of paper) – to be cut dramatically, saying many households do not want them.

The Telstra business that makes the directories, Sensis, said a website making it easier for people to opt out of getting the books should be ready next month. The current opt-out system has been criticised as too difficult to use and therefore opt-out rates are low. The same can be said for the UK, only here we have at least 3 different publishers that need to be contacted.  When will an centralised opt-out system be available here?

The Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, has gone further and called for an opt-in system instead saying, ”There is increasing community concern about the waste of producing and delivering telephone directories to all households, given so many people use directories online.”

 Could we see London’s Lord Mayor calling for something similar?

We’re pleased the Government acknowledged that an opt-in system would “help reduce the burden on resources and the environmental impact.” However No.10  also said there are no Government regulations relating to our proposal, suggesting we take our argument to Ofcom. That’s exactly what we’ll do, but we won’t stop pressuring the Government to cut back on phonebook-waste and the burden of clearing up unwanted phone books on cash-stricken councils.  While we welcome Downing Street’s sentiment we now want action, and watch this space as the Say No To Phonebooks Campaign gathers pace.

From implementing a centralised opt-out facility to charging directory publishers a fee for every book it distributes, this City Council has identified that the cost of recycling the directories shouldn’t necessarily be their burden to carry.  

It seems now, more than ever, the LGA should put the onus on publishers to ensure directories are only delivered to those people that actually want them.  It saves council funds & saves the environment. What are they waiting for?

The directory publishers in the UK argue that people can opt-out if they want to by contacting each directory publisher individually, however independent research proves that only 30% of people are actually aware of this. It strikes me that we’re going to have to try a little bit harder if we’re going to reduce the UK’s waste problem – not to mention this unnecessary use of council funds when the government is looking to shave whatever it can.

The article goes on to explain that 6 million people in the UK don’t have access to the internet. Is that who we’re producing 75 million phonebooks a year for?

Alongside producing this shiny new format, that will fit through letter boxes and only serve to infuriate people who have expressly requested not to receive junk mail even more, couldn’t BT invest to communicating it’s opt-out facility (which independent research shows is only known about by 30% of people – compared to almost 60% for the MPS). Given that both BT & Yell have reduced the size of its directories this year to ’save paper’ and that 70% of Brits would support an opt-out for phonebooks, shouldn’t we just take the next logical step and setup a centralised opt-in system for phonebooks? Come on, do the environmental a real favour!  

In the meantime, if you wish to opt-out of the phonebook,

• For BT call 0800 833400 then press option 5 then option 1
• For Yellow Pages call 0800 671 444
• For Thomson Local email info@thomsonlocal.com or call 01252 555 555 

Wouldn’t a centralised opt-out system for phonebooks be easier than calling all 3 directory publishers?

It’s estimated that this would save 3,000 tonnes of paper. In the UK, we could save a staggering 36,900 tonnes of paper if a centralised opt-in system was setup for all printed directories!

This announcement marks a key turning point in the way that countries deal with the environmental menace of unwanted phonebooks, and so the ‘Say No To Phonebooks’ campaign team is calling on Ofcom to introduce a similar ruling in the UK. With over 12,000 signatures on our Downing St ePetition, there is a huge amount of public support for the government to help establish a centralised opt-in system for phonebooks.

Now is the time for Britain to be at the forefront of environmental change in Europe. A Europe-wide opt-in system would be a massive plus for the environment and complement the EU directive to reduce landfill.

Minister Quickenborne announces that Belgium will adopt an opt-in system for residential telephone directories

The school is currently aiming for an Eco award and so hosted an eco afternoon where each class had the task of creating something out of unwanted yellow pages. One class created a ’Yellow Brick Road’ from directory pages  which every child laid along the path to the school hall. Others made origami birds, bird nests and much more. But our favourite is this amazing chicken which is now standing guard over the birds nests. The left over paper will be used for the bedding for real chickens which are arriving in April. Fantastic stuff!

If you’ve got children at a loose end this easter, why not try out some origami too? 
Download Easter Origami Instructions >>
     

Well we have a very simple, low impact idea that will save at least 40,000 tonnes of waste across the UK every year (not to mention £3m of council funds). Let’s move to an opt-in system for phonebooks sooner rather than later (because either way, you know it will happen eventually) and send phonebooks on their way with the cheque book!

You have only 7 days left to sign the ‘Say No To Phonebooks’ epetition. If  you haven’t done so already, sign it now: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/NoPhonebooks/

Drilling down a little deeper on their site and we can see they’ve recently started their own ‘Generous action’ encouraging people to opt out of receiving a yellow pages directory. This action was the result of almost 150 people retweeting their instructions for opting out of receiving this phonebook recently.

This brought us to a point that’s been repeated a couple of times by printed directory advocates in - ‘people already have the option to opt-out and the numbers of people taking up this option are relatively low’. Well, perhaps if these instructions were easy to find at the front of phonebooks and on directory websites, maybe the number of people opting-out would be much higher and indicative of how people feel about these unwanted directories? It will be interesting to see how this figure increases with sites like Generous and tweeters spreading the word….

In Australia, green bloggers are claiming, “Phonebooks are heavy, thick, and mostly unwanted due to the arrival of the on-line phone directory and mobile  phones! When was the last time you used one of these paper dinosaurs? Who is sick of getting them each year, and never using them?” (Read the full Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op post).

While in the US, one pastor has claimed that understanding cultural evolution over the last decade can help communications become more like YouTube and less like phonebooks - something thats “picked up and promptly deposited in the trash”. He went on to say, “Heavy printed phone books represent more than telephone numbers and ads. They represent the past, communication forms that used to work the best, and a dog-eared determination to hang on to the past no matter what” (Read the full Barry Whitlow post).

With this international resentment growing, it’s encouraging to see that US lawmakers are going so far as to propose fines for unwanted phonebooks (Read full 9news.com article). Isn’t it time the UK government started to address the issue rather than just turning a blind eye?