Yellow Pages Opt Out

[Kevy Baby]

I have previously posted about the DMA Do Not Mail (https://www.dmachoice.org) registry where you can put yourself on a national Do Not Mail list. Since they have been getting more aggressive about it, I also wanted to share the Yellow Pages Opt Out site, where you can sign up to not get the printed version of the Yellow Pages delivered to you:

http://www.yellowpagesoptout.com/

At the same time, I will also copy a segment about paper usage to dispel some misinformation about paper (from the Choose Print (http://www.chooseprint.org) web site): Print Values Trees
Most paper now comes from sustainable forests. These forests are essentially “tree farms,” where trees are grown as a crop, just like broccoli or wheat. When these trees are harvested, new stocks are planted. Print on paper gives landowners a financial incentive to renew forests rather than convert them for other uses, such as agriculture or development.

Print Uses “Waste”
One-third of the fiber used to make paper comes from wood chips and sawmill scraps; another third comes from recycled paper. Overall, in the United States nearly 80 percent of the almost 400 paper mills use recovered fiber to make some or all of their paper products, and of these, approximately 200 mills use recovered paper exclusively.

Print is Recycled
But that is not the complete story. Print on paper is recycled and reused. In 2009, for example, 63.4 percent of all paper used in the United States was recycled, and this number increases each year with more deliberate curbside and drop-off collection systems. Recycled paper is used to make everything from construction products to consumer goods.

Print is Responsible
Just 11% of the world’s forests are used for paper, and in the U.S. the wood used to produce paper all comes from certified forests. The Forest Steward Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) track fiber content from certified lands through production and manufacturing to the end product. There are certified forests in over 80 countries.
From sustainable forests to the renewable nature of trees and the recyclability of paper, the print and paper industries have a positive environmental story to tell—one in which print on paper and healthy forests thrive hand-in-hand.


Okay, I will step off my soapbox now.

[katiesue]

Thanks Kevy - my family were all loggers so I'm with you on the renewable resource. Personally I don't use a print copy so I'd rather not get one to have to dispose of.

Now if you can get the idiot yellowpage telemarketers to quit calling my office I'd be very happy!

[Kevy Baby]

Now if you can get the idiot yellowpage telemarketers to quit calling my office I'd be very happy!OMG - I agree. Automated telemarketing should be outlawed.

[BarTopDancer]

Oh yay! I hate getting them since I just toss them. I wonder if it will actually stop though, since they are dropped on our doorsteps. I suspect the people doing the dropping aren't going to be paying attention to an opt-out list.

[Moonliner]

Back in November'ish I took the time to sign up for DMA list, set all my monthly statements to "On-line only" and sent "Take me the hell of your list" postcards to every company that sent me catalogs. Last year the average daily mail delivery was ~12 items. Currently I average 4-5 items per day.

So a rough calculation would be: 7 less/day * 6 days * 52 weeks = 2,184 less items per year. :)

[Capt Jack]

Oh yay! I hate getting them since I just toss them. I wonder if it will actually stop though, since they are dropped on our doorsteps. I suspect the people doing the dropping aren't going to be paying attention to an opt-out list.

I fear the same, but going to opt out anyway. I dont recall the last time I used it for anything but to trip over or as a dead weight anyway

[JWBear]

The only reason we have paper phonebooks taking up space on a shelf is because I live with a Luddite who thinks we might actually need to use one someday, even though we haven't in years.

[Moonliner]

The only reason we have paper phonebooks taking up space on a shelf is because I live with a Luddite who thinks we might actually need to use one someday, even though we haven't in years.

They do make good kindling.

[Ghoulish Delight]

And fun rabbit toys.

[Moonliner]

But probably not at the same time.

[Alex]

Okay, I will step off my soapbox now.

I'm on the other side of that issue since until very recently my entire job was figuring out how to get millions of people to stop asking us to send them paper stuff. I'm not entirely sure that "paper usage promotes tree farms" is quite the same thing as "paper usage promotes forests" (but I'm likely biased by my silviculturalist friend telling me so often about how relatively useless tree farms are as ecosystems).

But overall, from the consumer point of view, aren't those arguments essentially a different version of "I bought this pair of shoes I'll never actually wear, but they were 50% off so I actually saved $100?" Sure, paper may not be as bad as you might think, but that doesn't mean it isn't as good as not getting the paper at all (if you have no need for the paper).

[Moonliner]

But overall, from the consumer point of view, aren't those arguments essentially a different version of "I bought this pair of shoes I'll never actually wear, but they were 50% off so I actually saved $100?" Sure, paper may not be as bad as you might think, but that doesn't mean it isn't as good as not getting the paper at all (if you have no need for the paper).

I went paperless on all my statements not to save the forest, but to save myself time and limit the clutter in the home office.

Can't you just follow the airline example and slap a fee on printed statements? That sounds like a win-win. Either consumers opt out or it becomes a profit center.

[Ghoulish Delight]

But overall, from the consumer point of view, aren't those arguments essentially a different version of "I bought this pair of shoes I'll never actually wear, but they were 50% off so I actually saved $100?" Sure, paper may not be as bad as you might think, but that doesn't mean it isn't as good as not getting the paper at all (if you have no need for the paper).

What Alex said. Your defense of paper starts to sound like "free energy" argument. It fails to take into account, for instance, the energy and resources expended to do the farming. The pollution and clearing necessary to build the paper mills that churn the finished product out, then the pollution and energy expended in the actual paper manufacturing process.

Printing may not eat through trees the way most people imagine it does, but it's not resource-free, and reduction of consumption of resources is a good goal to have.

[Kevy Baby]

I'm on the other side of that issue since until very recently my entire job was figuring out how to get millions of people to stop asking us to send them paper stuff. I'm not entirely sure that "paper usage promotes tree farms" is quite the same thing as "paper usage promotes forests" (but I'm likely biased by my silviculturalist friend telling me so often about how relatively useless tree farms are as ecosystems).

But overall, from the consumer point of view, aren't those arguments essentially a different version of "I bought this pair of shoes I'll never actually wear, but they were 50% off so I actually saved $100?" Sure, paper may not be as bad as you might think, but that doesn't mean it isn't as good as not getting the paper at all (if you have no need for the paper).

What Alex said. Your defense of paper starts to sound like "free energy" argument. It fails to take into account, for instance, the energy and resources expended to do the farming. The pollution and clearing necessary to build the paper mills that churn the finished product out, then the pollution and energy expended in the actual paper manufacturing process.

Printing may not eat through trees the way most people imagine it does, but it's not resource-free, and reduction of consumption of resources is a good goal to have.I don't believe that using paper is better than not using paper and that is not the idea behind the campaign I excerpted and linked to. Rather, it is an attempt to get people to realize that paper is not as bad as many like to portray it. Some people think that virgin forests are being clear-cut with abandon so that we can just waste it.

And yes, resources are needed to run the machinery to cultivate/cut the trees, run the paper mills, etc. But resources are also need to generate the electricity to run your computer, make the computer, etc. (so that is not a panacea either). No system is perfect.