71) Yellow Pages

Over the past few months I've received four different Yellow Pages (YP) bricks on my doorstep. So far, they've remained in their plastic wrapping, a generous stack that sometimes serves as a doorstop. The YP are such an institution - no matter where you live, they show up without fail once a year. One hesitates to question their existence, as an up-to-date directory used to be a must-have for every residence. While tidying up this afternoon, I finally removed the YP from their bags. They've been spread out on the floor, staring up at me in all their wasteful and useless glory every since.

First, each book is made up of well over 1,000 8.5" x 11" pages. One of the four had reduced their page size by about 75% in an effort to be more manageable, and perhaps distinguish itself from the rest (new "eco-friendly" size). However, this only resulted in a directory an extra couple inches thicker, reminiscent of impossibly squat copies of War and Peace. Then there is the fact that there are four of them. Two from Verizon Wireless (one being an extension of the first), one from AT&T, and one from Yellowbook, each claiming more legitimacy over the next (the real Yellow Pages). What kills me is that each book is essentially a replica of the next.

This huge use of paper (recycled, yes, but what of the people who don't recycle their books?) may have been justified in the time before the Internet. Now it's just plain wasteful. Even the YP are online now with their own virtual directories. So why not kill the book version?

The thinking is probably two fold. First, there are still people out there who don't have access to the Internet. For this group, the YP still serve an important purpose. Second, brands must still profit by advertising through the YP. Flipping through the "money saving coupons" in the back reveal a highly localized group, probably benefiting from the aforementioned non-Internet users. Because chances are the rest of us won't even open the book.

While there's already a YP opt-out system, it's clear that YP distributors want to make people jump through hoops before their doorstep is YP-free. On top of that, the effort isn't well publicized. We easily opt-in to receive bills and bank statements online, so why should the YP be any different?