Matt Krug from hibu and I are at the Association of Oregon Recyclers conference to promote the industry and highlight the environmental and sustainability initiatives of our LSA members. Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in the state of Oregon that would have created an opt-in registry for phone books and imposed penalties for violations. The bill did not end up moving after engagement by LSA, but it certainly points to the importance of getting the word out about our industry’s self-regulatory efforts in this state. We’ve met officials from across Oregon, including Portland, and are promoting the value our members bring to local communities as well our consumer choice and sustainability initiatives.
LSA’s VP of Public Affairs Wesley Young (left) and hibu’s Environmental Relations Manager Matt Krug at the Association of Oregon Recyclers (AOR) conference.
As we head into summer, our friends at Keep America Beautiful are encouraging supporters across the country to de-cluttering for summer by following a few tips.
One of the tips offered is for those who don’t want print Yellow Pages directories to limit or stop delivery at www.YellowPagesOptOut.com. For those who do want Yellow Pages, the group asks supporters to recycle their old books when new editions arrive (Yellow Pages are 100% recyclable).
This year, Keep American Beautiful is celebrating America Recycles Day on November 15th, so be sure to mark your calendars! We were proud to partner with KAB last year on their important day, and look forward to doing so again this year.
Find out more about Keep America Beautiful and America Recycles Day at www.kab.org.
Matt Krug from hibu and I are attending the Washington State Recycling Association (WSRA) conference in Stevenson, WA to promote the industry and highlight the environmental and sustainability initiatives of LSA members. We’ve had the opportunity to speak in front of hundreds of city and county waste management staff about our self regulatory efforts involving the opt-out site as well as meet individually with them at our booth. We’ve also developed some personal relationships and contacts with staff at cities across the state. These relationships should be valuable contacts for us in making sure our message gets heard and in keeping regulatory pressure off of the industry.
Here is Matt giving a quick pitch about the yellow page industry’s opt-out program to a large audience at the conference.
I’m pleased to share that we recently reached an agreement with the City of Seattle to end litigation resulting from its discriminatory phone book ordinance. As we shared last October, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals gave a unanimous ruling in favor of free speech that protects all media, including Yellow Pages, from restrictions that hurt local businesses and consumers and cost taxpayer dollars. Now Yellow Pages companies can continue to offer their services without the challenges put in place by the City’s ordinance.
As an industry, we know it doesn’t make sense to deliver a directory to someone who doesn’t want one. But we believe our industry’s consumer choice program, rather than local government-led initiatives, is the best approach to ensure consumers control the delivery of Yellow Pages directories to their homes and businesses. Consumers in Seattle and nationwide can visit www.YellowPagesOptOut.com to limit or stop delivery of directories. The straightforward, easy-to-use website is free, funded by Yellow Pages publishers rather than taxpayer dollars.
We look forward to working with the City of Seattle to increase visibility of www.YellowPagesOptOut.com among its residents and will honor opt-out requests previously submitted to the City’s former opt-out website.
We will also continue to help Seattle’s local businesses navigate the increasingly complex local media marketplace to give them their best possible return on investment and to provide residents with the ability to find those businesses wherever they search.
The CRRA conference, which takes place this upcoming Sunday through Wednesday at the Oakland Marriott City Center in Oakland, California, will feature an exhibit booth staffed by on-site representatives from Yellowbook and the Association.
The event – which will take place August 5-8, 2012 at the Oakland Marriott City Center in Oakland, California – will feature an exhibit booth staffed by on-site representatives from Yellowbook and the Association. The industry will discuss important topics with attendees such as its environmental efforts, opt-out program and the importance of buying locally for the entire community.
We really enjoyed participating in CRRA’s 2011 conference, and know 2012 will be another great opportunity to share the industry’s positive and consistent progress in this space.
Wellington E. Webb, who served as Mayor of Denver from 1991-2003, continues his series on the importance of raising visibility for our industry’s national consumer choice website, www.YellowPagesOptOut.com, which enables local residents and businesses to easily determine whether or not they want to receive directories. Here is the third post in Mayor Webb’s series.
As I mentioned in my last post, Yellow Pages are the subject of proposed regulations in some cities and towns across the country. Certain local elected officials may wish to ignore this – but the fact is that Yellow Pages companies have a good story to tell. When it comes to sustainability and the environment, the industry is already making great strides by reducing waste, using recycled materials, promoting awareness, and more.
For example, paper usage for directories has decreased 50% since 2007, thanks to changes in directory sizes, more efficient manufacturing, reduction in residential white pages and www.YellowPagesOptOut.com. When available, Yellow Pages publishers are using recycled newspapers, old phone books and leftover woodchips from the lumber industry to make directory paper – and they are printing with vegetable-based ink that poses no danger to ground water and binding directories with non-toxic adhesives.
We already know that Yellow Pages are among the most recycled materials – and the industry is actively encouraging recycling. Yellow Pages today include print recycling information on the front of directories. Publishers also support local public and private recycling programs that redirect materials from municipal waste streams for reuse. The industry’s strategic partnerships in communities across the country enable directory materials to be reused for innovative products that help grow the local economy.
The industry’s efforts are making a difference. In 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency found that the paper category – which includes newspapers, directories, and other mechanical papers – maintains a high recycling rate of 71.6%. And with more than 9,000 curbside recycling programs across the country, 87% of Americans can recycle their used directories, according to the Paper Industry Association.
Not to mention, Yellow Pages publishers already taken serious steps to cut back on the number of unused directories, including coming together as an industry to create www.YellowPagesOptOput.com, a free and easy-to-use opt out website where customers can control the delivery of directories to their home.
Yellow Pages not only help local economies, create jobs, and sustain diverse local cultures, but they also reduce energy usage by encouraging consumers to buy closer to home. In this era of increased awareness of environmental issues, these are things that the industry should celebrate and be proud of – and we need to get the word out.
Today’s guest blogger Lena Tam is a member of the Alameda City Council in California.
Last year, I began working with the Local Search Association to help educate Alameda County residents about the Yellow Pages industry’s opt-out program aimed at cutting back on the number of unused books. This is an effort that is extremely important, especially as our nation becomes more aware of environmental issues.
Today, many businesses in California and across the country are stepping up and doing their part to promote a healthier – and greener – lifestyle. The Yellow Pages is one example of an industry taking a leading role in reducing paper by producing smaller books and providing an easy-to-use portal for individuals to limit or opt out of the delivery of Yellow Pages directories to their homes.
As I mentioned in a recent op-ed published in Public CEO titled, “Yellow Pages and Alameda County are Getting Greener, Together,” the Yellow Pages play a critical role in our community – and while the print directory continues to be valuable, many of my constituents are turning to digital options. The industry has recognized this reality as an opportunity to cut back on unused books and for those who prefer searching online, the website www.YellowPagesOptOut.com allows them to limit or even stop directory delivery.
The site is straightforward and comes at absolutely no cost to taxpayers or local governments – and is certainly a valuable resource for individuals and communities that are looking for ways to reduce waste. It is also a huge help for elected officials like me that are forced to balance environmental priorities with economic realities.
I am pleased that Alameda residents who do not want to receive a phone book can opt-out using this simple online tool.
I also encourage other elected officials to join in and spread the word about this resource. We are all looking for ways to help our communities be more sustainable. Increasing visibility for this program is the single best thing we can do to help residents manage delivery of phone books to their homes.
I’m happy to share that a group of Washington State lawmakers announced yesterday that they support the industry’s national consumer choice website, www.YellowPagesOptOut.com, as a straightforward and easy-to-use tool for residents to choose which phone directories they want to receive or stop delivery altogether. As part of the announcement, local Yellow Pages publishers including Berry, Dex One, SuperMedia and Yellowbook have agreed to feature the consumer choice website address on the top right corner of their directories to drive further public awareness of the site.
Reps. Reuven Carlyle (D-Seattle), Marko Liias (D-Edmonds), and Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Burien), who met with industry representatives prior to the announcement, emphasized that the website “benefits publishers, consumers, and the environment.”
Rep. Caryle said, “This effort is a great example of how the government can work with the private sector to achieve results. Through some common-sense self-regulation, we avoid solving the problem by enacting more laws or government regulations.”
We look forward to an ongoing and productive relationship with Washington State. We hope our partnership here can serve as a model for other states and local municipalities across the country.
Take a look at this interesting article on Andrew Breitbart’s website BigGovernment.com that explores common misconceptions – promoted by groups ranging from environmentalists to local legislators – about consumer usage of Yellow Pages and the environmental impact of directories.
Echoing some of the arguments presented in the Valley Yellow Pages video we shared last week, the article clearly outlines important and factual responses to common inaccurate statements about our industry:
No one uses the Yellow Pages anymore: That’s simply not true. In fact, a high majority of U.S. adults – nearly 75% – refer to the Yellow Pages for local business information each year. Broken down by demographic, the usage figure is 85% of Baby Boomers and 66% of Generation Y, two groups that have among the highest levels of disposable income. Additionally, lower-income consumers, many of whom don’t have Internet access, continue to use the Yellow Pages in high numbers.
Publishers don’t give consumers a choice to stop delivery: Actually, Yellow Pages publishers think that directories should only be delivered to those who want them. If a directory won’t get used, there’s absolutely no economic benefit to delivering it. That’s why publishers launched an industry-wide initiative, www.yellowpagesoptout.com, which allows anyone across the country to limit to stop delivery of directories to their homes through a simple online registration.
I strongly encourage you to take a look at this article hear this point of view about our industry and use it with your fellow employees and advertisers to help spread the word.
Earlier this year, the Local Search Association and the Association of Directory Publishers launched an upgraded consumer choice website, www.yellowpagesoptout.com, which makes it even easier for people across the country to choose which phone directories are or are not delivered to their homes.
As part of our ongoing commitment to generating visibility for this valuable resource, today we joined with Councilman Matt Zone of the Cleveland City Council to issue a news release to Cleveland media and residents informing them of the program and providing additional information on how to contact local publishers to limit or stop directory delivery.
I applaud Councilman Zone for his leadership in working directly with directory publishers to raise awareness for www.yellowpagesoptout.com. As a chair of the National League of Cities’ Energy, Environment and Natural Resources (EENR) Committee, I hope his commitment to this program will resonate with other local leaders across the country.
I’m eager to continue to work with other state and local municipalities to address any of their questions about phone book delivery and consumer choice options. By partnering together, we can ensure that phone books are only delivered to those who want to receive them.
In our ongoing series on what Yellow Pages companies are doing to address sustainability and consumer choice issues, today we’re reviewing SuperMedia’s ongoing efforts on these fronts.
SuperMedia’s activities include:
Providing information on the covers of its directories on ways that consumers can opt-out of delivery, either online via the industry’s national opt-out website, www.yellowpagesoptout.com or by phone through toll-free numbers
Becoming one of the first Yellow Pages publishers to sign the Local Search Association and Association of Directory Publishers’ Joint Environmental Guidelines, underscoring the company’s commitment to environmental responsibility
Maintaining an Environmental Sustainability website with detailed information on the company’s use of reused paper for its directories, its efforts to reduce the amount of paper used in its directories, and its promotion of recycling directories after use. Consumers are encouraged to recycle their phone books in their curbside bins or via a community resource (more information on nearest recycling locations available at Earth911.com).
Using wood chips – and other materials that that are a bi-product of the production of lumber and other wood based materials – as the primary sources of the fiber used in its directory paper. No new trees are cut down specifically for the production of directory paper. Additionally, directories are completely recyclable and use environmentally-sound, biodegradable inks and dyes
For more information on the industry’s collective efforts, read our 2011 Sustainability Report. And check back here as we continue our series on what Yellow Pages companies are doing to proactively address environmental and consumer choice concerns.
In a continuation of our series about sustainability and consumer choice programs at Yellow Pages companies, today we’re going to take a look at what AT&T is doing on these fronts.
AT&T’s initiatives include:
AT&T and its suppliers use environmentally responsible production methods. This includes the use of recycled paper waste and leftover scraps of sawdust and woodchips from lumber production processes in manufacturing the paper used in AT&T’s directories. Its suppliers use inks that contain soy oils that are friendlier to the environment; they do not use elemental chlorine bleach in their processes. AT&T, through its supplier contracts, requires environmentally sustainable practices by its directory production vendors.
For several years, AT&T has enabled consumers to call its customer service number to opt out of directory delivery. Currently, AT&T directories nationwide include a green box on their covers with information on AT&T’s own directory opt-out site, www.att.com/mydirectories, and a toll free number,1-866-329-7118. Beginning with its August publications, AT&T will convert its covers to include the industry opt-out site, www.yellowpagesoptout.com, as a substitute for AT&T’s own site. The AT&T toll-free number will continue to remain on the covers. AT&T is also incorporating the industry opt out site on its delivery bags, recycling flyers and other appropriate materials.
AT&T operates approximately 70 Project ReDirectory initiatives, community-based recycling programs. Some of these programs are in partnership with Keep America Beautiful local affiliates, while others are with schools or local municipalities. These programs are designed to promote the collection and recycling of directories. Directories are recycled into animal bedding, bathroom tissue, cereal boxes, roofing shingles and new phone books. Messages about the ability of consumers to reduce, change or stop directory delivery are included as part of the programs.
All AT&T directory covers include a message about the importance of recycling the book at the end of its lifecycle and include a toll free number, 1-800-953-4400, that enables a caller to enter their zip code and learn about local recycling options.
AT&T has implemented a number of strategies and product changes over the last several years that have significantly reduced both the amount of paper and number of directories distributed in local communities. AT&T remains committed to pursuing additional changes in the future.
AT&T led the industry with an initiative to give consumers a choice about whether to receive a stand-alone Residential White Pages. (Residential listings are used very differently—and less—than business listings or advertising. AT&T’s initiative will be in 58 markets by the end of 2011.)
AT&T provides all consumers with many choices for finding local business information. In addition to its most-used AT&T Real Yellow Pages, it helps consumers and businesses connect online through YP.com and RealPagesLive.com, and while mobile, on the popular YPmobile app.
For more information on the industry’s collective efforts read our 2011 Sustainability Report, and check back here as we continue our series on what Yellow Pages companies are doing to proactively address environmental and consumer choice concerns.
Over the next few months we’ll be highlighting our members’ environmental activities. Today we’re featuring Yellowbook, where a strong proactive effort is being made with regard to sustainability and consumer choice. And since the company distributes print Yellow Pages across the country, its commitment to these initiatives touches consumers everywhere.
Printing the industry’s opt-out website, www.yellowpagesoptout.com, on the covers and in the Table of Contents of its directories in 48 states in the District of Columbia.
Maintaining its own website, www.recycleyellowbook.com, which provides information on ways to recycle and opt-out of directory delivery.
Sending delivery notification letters to local governments in the months prior to delivery with information on www.yellowpagesoptout.com and area recycling programs.
Last September, we worked with Conservation Minnesota—and our members including Dex One, SuperMedia, and Yellowbook—to develop and launch a site that helps Minnesota residents manage their print directory deliveries and access local recycling information.
Paul’s story is representative of the experiences of thousands of people across the country who are taking advantage of our industry’s various consumer choice offerings. When given the opportunity to work, our opt-out solutions—whether on the national or local levels—can and do succeed.
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