Every six months or so, I come home to find a stack of new phone books waiting for me by my front door.  My shoulders slump as soon as I catch sight of them - because honestly, I practically never use them.   I drag them inside, swap out the previous year's unused (sometimes even unwrapped) versions, and close the cupboard that's precious shelf space is devoted to this strange, archaic tradition.

There was a time that I did actually use phone books, but that was in the age before I became forever spoiled by immediate access to information through the likes of Google.  I grab my laptop when I need to find something these days - not a phone book. 

But at the same time, I can't help but feel guilty that someone, somewhere, went through the effort of printing out these massive volumes and then delivered them all the way to my doorstep.  It seems like such a waste for them to arrive, and then the same day for me to march them straight out to the recycling bin.  So out of obligation I keep them... and they sit unused in a dark cupboard until the day comes that with slumped shoulders I swap them out with the new arrivals.

So you can imagine how tickled I was that this morning when I discovered that one of my friends had passed a link on to me that enables me to "opt out" of phone book delivery.  Wonderful!  I can only imagine the resources it takes to publish thousands of these enormous books, not to mention the resources required to deliver them to households throughout the nation.  I'm more than happy to take my name off the list of people for which they need to expend this sizable effort.

If you find yourself participating in a similar semi-annual-phone-book-swapping routine, and would rather opt out of the whole thing... in less than a minute you can register your name and address at YellowPagesGoesGreen.Org.  It's quick, it's painless, and you can free up an entire cupboard for more important things... like outdated Thomas Brothers maps.