Sustainable practices are a priority for the Local Search Industry. Sales facilitated by Yellow Pages not only help local economies, create jobs and sustain diverse local cultures, but also reduce energy usage by encouraging consumers to buy closer to home. We have also taken proactive steps to reduce our industry’s footprint as much as possible through paper reduction, recycling efforts, and consumer choice. For more information, please reference our one page Environmental Fact Sheet, read our 2012 Sustainability Report, and click through to our national opt-out site.
Environmental Fact Sheet
The Environmental Fact Sheet contains statistics on how Industry products truly effect the environment and information on how our members are contributing to a greener world. The report contains various topics, such Consumer Choice, Sustainability Production, Environmental Impact, and Industry Leadership.
Sustainability Report
The “Thrive in Perpetuity” sustainability report evaluates the local search industry’s performance against social, economic, environment and cultural impacts. The report focuses the industry’s efforts to reduce paper usage, progress on the industry’s consumer choice program, and the lifecycle of print and online local search options.
A key finding from the 2012 report that has been realized is a projection by the Pulp and Paper Products Council that source reductions will drive a 50 percent reduction in paper use for print directories by the end of 2012 compared to 2007. The report also includes results of a lifecycle study which found that directories use fewer raw materials than electronic search devices and consume less energy overall. Manufacturers reported that nearly 60% of the power used to make paper comes from renewable sources. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the recycling rate for the paper category that includes phone directories is 71.6 percent.
Also, previous EPA data found that directories represented 0.3% of the solid waste stream. In its most recent report, the EPA stopped measuring directories separately and included them with newsprint and other mechanical paper, signaling that directories continue to make up a tiny portion of paper in the waste stream.
National Yellow Pages Consumer Choice & Opt-Out Site
Developed in partnership between the Local Search Association and the Association of Directory Publishers,
www.YellowPagesOptOut.com provides an easy and secure way for residents to control the number of Yellow Pages telephone directories they receive or to stop directory delivery entirely. It is a completely free service and the Local Search Association encourages efforts by municipalities and community-based organizations to make consumers aware of this important option.
The Internet-based tool is specifically designed to prevent directories from being delivered to anyone who doesn't want one while ensuring that they are delivered to the majority of consumers who continue to rely upon and use the print Yellow Pages to make purchases supporting the local business community and economy. It is a significant and unified commitment on behalf of directory publishers of which the positive impacts are already being realized in many communities around the country.
As the industry’s official website to manage requests, all Local Search Association and the Association of Directory Publishers member companies are committed to honoring requests made through the Opt-Out web portal. Information gathered through the site will not be sold to third-parties and will be used solely to update publishers’ delivery information.
Interested in easily placing a hyperlink on your own website? Please refer to the
Opt Out Embed Code page for details.
For any questions regarding the Local Search Association's opt out initiatives, please contact
Cheryl Spagnuolo / (248) 244-0724.