To Phone Book or not to phone book, that is the question
September 23rd 2007 03:04
Recently I came home to find two big fat thumping phone books sitting on my doorstep. Now call me old fashioned but surely in this day and age there is no need for good trees to die in vain and phone books be delivered to every house in Australia.
I am guessing this is the wrong audience to preach to as I would say it has been a long time since anyone here actually touched a phone book (other like me to put it in the recycling)
Let's face it the days of the phone book have long since passed. It is quicker, easier and better for the environment to search for everything online, phone numbers are no exception.
With all the noise around about Climate Change and concern for the environment it is time practices like this were abolished. Look i am not saying do away with the phone book altogether i am sure there are households without computers and they need the phone book but surely someone should ask if you want it. Instead of just dumping unwanted dead trees on people's doorsteps.....its a bit frustrating watching all these corporations and people jumping on every bandwagon to be "climate friendly" buying Carbon Credits etc wouldn't it be nice if they applied some common sense to the equation as well. Prevention is still better than a cure...I guess it doesn't make as good headlines.
Now i don't know exactly how many tonnes of paper creating these phone books adds up to but here are a few facts about paper production and environmental impact I found on the Web
Paper manufacturing is the third largest user of fossil fuels worldwide and the single largest industrial use of water per kg of finished product.
The production of one ton of paper consumes the same amount of energy as one ton of steel.
30% of all trees logged in the US are intended for the paper industry.
Approximately 5% of the resources used to produce paper are contained in the final product, the other 95% are discarded during the production process
B&W toner contains at least 6 different substances that are listed as hazardous and toxic.
Now for something that doesn't get used it seems such a shocking waste, even if it is recycled surely those of us with computers can do without......
I have a friend that is a senior manager at Telstra and I will be calling her to see if we can try to do something about this.
Happy Sunday
source for facts
Ask.com
I am guessing this is the wrong audience to preach to as I would say it has been a long time since anyone here actually touched a phone book (other like me to put it in the recycling)
Let's face it the days of the phone book have long since passed. It is quicker, easier and better for the environment to search for everything online, phone numbers are no exception.
With all the noise around about Climate Change and concern for the environment it is time practices like this were abolished. Look i am not saying do away with the phone book altogether i am sure there are households without computers and they need the phone book but surely someone should ask if you want it. Instead of just dumping unwanted dead trees on people's doorsteps.....its a bit frustrating watching all these corporations and people jumping on every bandwagon to be "climate friendly" buying Carbon Credits etc wouldn't it be nice if they applied some common sense to the equation as well. Prevention is still better than a cure...I guess it doesn't make as good headlines.
Now i don't know exactly how many tonnes of paper creating these phone books adds up to but here are a few facts about paper production and environmental impact I found on the Web
Paper manufacturing is the third largest user of fossil fuels worldwide and the single largest industrial use of water per kg of finished product.
The production of one ton of paper consumes the same amount of energy as one ton of steel.
30% of all trees logged in the US are intended for the paper industry.
Approximately 5% of the resources used to produce paper are contained in the final product, the other 95% are discarded during the production process
B&W toner contains at least 6 different substances that are listed as hazardous and toxic.
Now for something that doesn't get used it seems such a shocking waste, even if it is recycled surely those of us with computers can do without......
I have a friend that is a senior manager at Telstra and I will be calling her to see if we can try to do something about this.
Happy Sunday
source for facts
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Comment by David
Although I'm not the greatest environmentalist going around, I did have similar thoughts when I saw a block of phone books dumped in the entranceway of the college next-door (on the weekend).
You make a valid point, but how do Telstra contact people? Obviously they can contact the ones who have the net and don't want the phone books, but their message will probably get deleted if they have Big Pond and good SPAM blocking anti-viral software, or if they don't subscribe to Telstra and see Telstra in the email header, and delete it out of spite.
They could go doorknocking at night, I guess. But then people would shut the door on them, and just say, "Go away! Why can't you do this during business hours?"
Or they could employ a telemarketing company to do the research for them, and actually ring up by phone, but then they'd probably get a similar response. "Why do you people ring up at night when we're just about to have dinner? Why don't you ring up during business hours?"
I think the only solution would be to stop making the White & Yellow Pages and see if people complained by phone. That way, they would ensure a bigger profit for the next financial year.
I've got a good mind to email, ring and write to Telstra myself. And I would if everything wasn't so complicated nowadays. I can imagine getting a letter back saying they'd put my letter on hold, and would answer it as soon as they finiished answering the emails and phone calls, on the condition that my email or phone call wasn't in the email or phone call waiting list and was answered earlier than the response to the mail enquiry.
I've even got a good mind to email, write to and ring their competitors. The only reason I'm not going to do that is the competitors rely on Telstra's infrastructure to operate, and I'll probably end up speaking to a Telstra offshore employee explaining this, which I really don't have time for.
I'd go to a phone box, but for some reason all the telephone books at phone boxes have gone missing over the past decade and TElstra don't put any there anymore, or replace the ones that are stolen. I guess that's because they're too busy supplying them to people who don't need them.
Comment by Lilla
From The Home Front
Enviro Warrior
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
I'm really glad you are going to talk to your friend... I would also include a letter to the Telstra Phone book marketing department with a cc to Peter Garrett's office in Maroubra, Sydney.
You'll never get credit for any of your ideas that do go to the big guys in either sphere... but you may just see the day you have instigated a change, that you know is yours... or...well.. very similar to it? *ha ha* as long as the job gets done, right?
Good luck, if you need a signature of support, or sms to some department... just let us all know ... I'm sure orblers would make a call for the cause. If China can do it, I'm sure we can rustle up a few sms text messages here and there?
Looking forward to an update...
Lilla ...
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Comment by Ash
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uh huh! I hear you. I don`t even recall when the last time was I looked through a phone book.
Junk mail should also fit into that category!
Ash
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Comment by KylieW
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It does seem like a monumental waste of resources