A unique partnership aims to keep phone books out of the trash
Minnesotans like to recycle. At about 40 percent of waste, we have one of the highest recycling rates of any state in the nation. But there's more we can do -- and it appears phone book recycling is a popular option.
When we launched our campaign and website, Donttrashthephonebook.org, in September, 10,000 Minnesotans signed up immediately. And they continue to enlist. The total site visits are more than 20,000 and climbing.
You may not know that an estimated 13,000 tons of phone books were distributed in Minnesota in 2006, nearly 13 pounds per Minnesotan. A 1992 Minnesota law bans the disposal of telephone directories in trash. The pages of a phone book are 100 percent recyclable, and are often used to make new phone books.
The website is a first-in-the-nation partnership between a nonprofit conservation organization and phone book publishers. We've partnered with the Yellow Pages Association and the three largest Minnesota publishers: Dex One, SuperMedia and Yellowbook.
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The Yellow Pages publishers know the directories are valuable for many people, but it does no good to deliver a directory to someone who doesn't want one. So Yellow Pages companies and Conservation Minnesota came together to put information on recycling and opt-out options for all Minnesotans in one location. Don't Trash the Phonebook makes it simple to adjust the number of directories you receive or to stop delivery altogether.
We think the site also demonstrates how collaborative efforts between industries and conservation and environmental groups can work. While many people assume the relationship between the two communities has to be adversarial, sometimes it's faster and better to find common ground. Wouldn't it be good if that happened more often in our public discourse?
We know Minnesotans are eager to make choices that protect our environment. Our website makes it simple for residents to conserve resources by recycling used phone directories or opting out of delivery altogether.
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Paul Austin is executive director of Conservation Minnesota, which describes its mission as "to turn our shared conservation values into state priorities and provide you with the information you need to make decisions for your family, community and future."
