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Every year we all receive the latest yellow and white pages. The production and delivery of these books is clearly is a huge waste of resources. I can’t remember the last time I even removed mine from the plastic they are delivered in. If I’m looking for a phone number I will, 100% of the time, do a search on the internet. I would think most people do the same thing. So why do we get these every year? Telstra (or Sensis) has an opt-out policy rather than an opt-in policy.

It is fairly easy to opt-out though, as mentioned by David at Greenomics:

In Australia, the phone books are produced by Sensis (a subsidiary of Telstra). They have a phone book opt-out: you can call them on 1800 810 211 and request not to receive one (and I’d encourage you to do so) but that seems a pretty inefficient way to reduce the number of phone books distributed – how many people know about (and will bother) opting out?

The annual deliver of phone books takes place in other countries too. It’s The Environment Stupid has this suggestion:

I think it is time for the phone book to go or at least be reduced. Maybe they can be sent out to those who specifically request one by checking a box on their monthly (landline) phone bill; or maybe a limited number of phone books can be made available at select locations for pick up by those who want one.

I don’t see why we couldn’t pick up a phone book from the local post office if we want one and leave it at that. It would save on paper, printing, and transportation costs. Of course the problem is that Telstra receives listing and advertising dollars from the thousands of businesses listed. This no doubt offsets the cost of production and delivery. It’s great that you can opt-out of receiving the phone books but if Telstra really wants to do something for the environment they should change their policy.

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