The Real Wasted Pages by AT&T

• The Real Yellow Pages – 1600 plus pages
• The Real White Pages- 975 plus pages
• The Real Yellow Pages Companion- 620 pages
• 1 Yellow Pages Plastic Bag
• Total Weight- over 5lbs (yes I did weigh it)

It has been over 2 months since my last post and while I have had the urge to write I was lacking the emotional desire. There are a lot of reasons why which I will explain later but for now I feel compelled to rant some, about the above.

While working from home on Friday I noticed a van parked by the end of the street and saw several people walking through the neighborhood dropping off some items in a plastic bag.

I did not give it much thought knowing that it was the annual Yellow Pages drop from AT&T.

As I ran errands I took notice to all of the bags on the doorsteps of the homes in my subdivision and as I drove out to the next city to meet some friends for dinner I became obsessed with taking note of all of the bags on the door steps of homes, churches, and businesses along the way.

It was then that I wondered do people still use the phone books like they use to? I cannot remember the last time I picked up one except to put some weight on a book I was gluing and needed something to hold it together. I will admit my wife will occasionally look up something and I am always thinking just google it…right? Most times she is looking for a business but I really cannot remember the last time I actually looked up a phone number for an individual or business. I have looked up a number in our subdivision’s directory or the school directory but it has been MANY years since I have looked a number up in the white or yellow pages.

I just thought what a waste of paper even if it does state on the bag 100% recycleable. I wondered how many people would throw them in the trash or wait for the next recycle pickup day to get rid of them.

I totally understand that there are people and businesses out there that rely on the book for obtaining and looking for business but I am willing to bet that there are more people connected to the internet that will run a search there to look for services and numbers.

Maybe AT&T can get away from the “shot gun drive by” of the books and allow people to specifically request if they want a copy of one of the 3 books or all 3. I bet a poll would show most people would want access to it online and save a few trees as well as the time, energy and exhaust from the people that deliver the books. How about just giving out a single disk with all of the information on it, no connection to the internet needed.

Just a thought…..AT&T you have your hands in multiple pockets but are not that aware of who own the pockets. Suggestion, run a report of customers that have DSL, e-mail accounts, etc. and I bet the results will give you a closer insight on how they want their information….just maybe.