I came home the other day and there they were at the front door…all three of them…just laying there…the Yellow Pages. Why oh why do we still receive the Yellow Pages? As I dragged them into the house, I wondered how many people throw them straight into the recycle bin. Who uses the Yellow Pages hardcopy books anymore?
Times have changed and the general public does not use the Yellow Pages as often since the onset of the internet. When I search for a business online, I drop a name into a search engine and a split second later I get instant results. The internet is quick and websites have plenty of informational content to answer most if not all of my questions. Internet searches feature up to date sales and specials, maps, directions, images, music and arguably most importantly, customer reviews.
Believe it or not, the Yellow Pages are the third most popular way to look for businesses after Google and Yahoo. However, according to a comScore study, people are turning to the Yellow Pages less frequently. Usage has decreased considerably and about 30 percent of local business searchers now spend more time online instead of offline, compared to 26 percent in 2007. The Yellow Pages acknowledged the increased popularity of using the internet as a search tool and made its information available online. There is even an app available through Apple for the directory.
So, while the Yellow Pages are no longer valuable for looking up what alarm companies there are in the neighborhood, I have found some new interesting ways to use those heavy books. I use them to prop up my monitors on my desk, does wonders for the neck and posture. They are great door stops, work well for a booster seat, or even duct tape them together and use them as a stair step for exercise!
While there are a ton of uses for those phone books that you will probably never open, Yellowpages.com in conjunction with Keep America Beautiful Works and AT&T Advertising & Publishing also offer to help you recycle old phone books. (http://www.yellowpages.com/recycle) The companies point out that
recycled phone books can be made into useful products such as “…animal bedding, home insulation, bathroom tissue, cereal boxes, roofing shingles…” So, recycle or be creative – just don’t leave the Yellow Pages on the curb to rot! I searched around online and found this nifty business card holder made out of a yellow pages directory, which can also be used as a picture holder. Gift wrap, garden mulch…you can’t do any of that with your fancy internet can you? I might just spare my Yellow Pages this time and take up a new hobby of arts & crafts…what do you do with your Yellow Pages?
For an “opt-out” option to discontinue the Yellow Pages at your home, go to: www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org
