A 2012-2013 Yellowbook phone directory arrived on our doorstep last weekend. Unbidden. Unwanted. It was encased in a yellow plastic bag. Unfriendly.
After staring at the lump for a few days, tonight I finally just tossed the book in the paper recycle bin. Good thing, because the plastic bag has a recycle message on it. The message asks us to recycle our outdated phone books and directs us to their website where we can find more information about recycling. The message also asks us to return the plastic bag to a participating store for recycling.
Do you suppose anyone at Yellowbook has taken the time to appreciate the great irony of their product? A paper phone directory produced from so many felled trees, immediately condemned to the waste pile, and a plastic bag wrapper destined to choak a turtle or a seagull sometime soon. Not to mention the gas to be consumed and the air to be contaminated while driving my plastic bag to a store for recycling.
Why on this green earth does anyone need a paper phone book any more? The answer is that most people, particularly those of us handcuffed to our smart phones and/or tablets and/or laptops, don't.
Wouldn't it make all the marketing sense in the world for Yellowbook to poll its catchment area to determine who wants paper phone books and who doesn't? It would be way more efficient -- financially and environmentally -- to offer an opt-in program for anyone who still likes to lick their fingertips and literally thumb through the pages.
The rest of us can stick to doing what we do best - surfing the internet for whatever product or service we need, whenever we need it.
