Stamp out Goldenpages printed directories

Notogoldenpages

Hi guys,

Hope you can help me- I'm starting a campaign to stamp out Goldenpages printed directories.

Every year these are dumped on our doors without our permission, they scream to every scobie passing that you're are not home as they are left sitting on your the doorstep until you return.

They are useless, ask youself when was the last time you used one?? Nearly everyone uses the internet.

Most annoying of all is the environmental damage- almost 1,000,000 of these directories are produced each year, imagine the carbon footprint created to produce and distribute these.

Have you had enough? Call Goldenpages now, not later, now 1800 20 20 20 and tell them you didn't ask for a directory and you don't want it.

Thanks for your help.

Tom

smashey

I used it yesterday.

egan007

and the 200 people that work there you going to feed them, pay their mortgages?

I see some valid points in your argument but there is not much thought put into it therefore you will get nobody to follow you. If you seriously want to address the core environmental issues then why not think about it a bit more. Have you asked the company about their environmental policies? Researched at all?

enda1

egan007 wrote: »

and the 200 people that work there you going to feed them, pay their mortgages?

I seem some valid points in your arguement but there is not much thought put into it ...

do you really think that is justification enough for the golden pages!?

<----
Communism is thatta way...

egan007

Communism? Do you even know what Communism is?

You quoted what you needed to validate your statement. Read the rest of my post.

Realism -> this way

enda1

Yes I do.

The part I quoted was all that was relevent for what I wanted to say.

I actually like the golden pages but thought your statement was ridiculus. People keeping jobs for the sake of it is never justification for anything. Welcome to Capitalism, embrace it with all your Socialist spirit!

Notogoldenpages

egan007 wrote: »

and the 200 people that work there you going to feed them, pay their mortgages?

I seem some valid points in your arguement but there is not much thought put into it therefore you will get nobody to follow you. If you seriously want to address the core environmental issues then why not think about it a bit more. Have you asked the company abot their enviromental policies? Researched at all?

Question for you egan007- do you think Sellafield should be closed down??? I think 99.99% of the of the population would say yes. But hang on- going by your logic it should not be closed down- 1,000's of people work there and depend on it for their mortgages.

It's about time we changed our attitude to the environment, just because something creates jobs does not mean it's good.

I’m not campaigning to have Goldenpages close down, they still have a huge online business and 11850 enquires.

dudara

I rang the distribution company about 2 months ago to remove the unwanted goldenpages delivered to our house. Guess what - no one showed up to collect them.

egan007

Whether I think Sellafield should be closed down or the golden pages should be closed is irrelevant to my point. What I'm simply pointing out is that the OP has not thought about the consequences of an action. Such consequences will hinder their success.

Is 1000 people who have been working in Sellafield for 20 years and have little prospect of future employment, considered by the British government when deciding on Sellafield's future - you better believe it, it's one of the primary factors.

What's the point in trying to change something for the sake of it, if you really thought about my original post you would see that I agreed with the OP, agreed so much that I immediately pointed out the biggest factor they would face in stopping the goldenpages.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I'd love to see the end of all phone directories or at least let me decide when I want a new one. They are dropped at the gate every year and I have to pay to have them recycled (the joys of rural life!) They change so little in a year that I don't need to constantly update them. Many people I need to get numbers for are ex-directory and the last 3 businesses I was looking for were not in the Yellow Pages.
I have seen the guy dropping them off on occassion and asked him to take them away and I have posted them back (without postage paid) marked "unsolicited mail".
They seem to be such a waste of resources and even saying we can re-cycle them is not a good enough response as this takes considerable resources too.

I phoned to-day to have the delivery stopped but I don't know how their "door-to-door" distributors will know which house is mine as we have no numbers.

pinkypinky

The Goldenpages online is not a brilliant search engine. I have searched for things I knew to be in there by their exact name and not found them. Until they improve it, I'll stick to the paper version.

drunkmonkey

how about knocking all papers down to 3 days a week.....Tuesday, Friday and Sunday....not sure how it would effect our co2 emissions but it can't hurt...

Just on phone numbers, Why can't you not search for a phone number online, how did 11811 get the monolopy?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

drunkmonkey wrote: »

Just on phone numbers, Why can't you not search for a phone number online, how did 11811 get the monolopy?

I find this http://www.eircomphonebook.ie very useful.

EDIT: Oh and have you heard of 11850 or 11890? A triopoly perhaps?

Notogoldenpages

Egan you are making very little sense. You're back-tracking on your original post. If you agreed with me then what was the first line of your post about???

This is not a campaign 'for the sake of it'. It's a serious problem and one of many. Legislators have the power to change 'core issues', we the population empower them. But we can also make a difference on the ground by tackling problems like this.

Again, going by your logic we should not bother recycling- just leave it up to those who tackle the 'core issues'

Egan, please don't reply to this post just for the sake of it. Think about it!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Notogoldenpages wrote: »

Egan you are making very little sense. You're back-tracking on your original post. If you agreed with me then what was the first line of your post about???

This is not a campaign 'for the sake of it'. It's a serious problem and one of many. Legislators have the power to change 'core issues', we the population empower them. But we can also make a difference on the ground by tackling problems like this.

Again, going by your logic we should not bother recycling- just leave it up to those who tackle the 'core issues'

Egan, please don't reply to this post just for the sake of it. Think about it!

+1

Do we bring back the Plastic Bags because people are employed making them?

Anyway apologies for going slightly off topic!

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

egan007 wrote: »

and the 200 people that work there you going to feed them, pay their mortgages?

presumably there were guards in Nazi concentration camps that lost there jobs after 1945 who had mortgages. not really a valid point imo

drunkmonkey

Sarai Fat Pickax wrote: »

I find this http://www.eircomphonebook.ie very useful.

Smart ass:D

would you belive I never even knew it existed, cheers your after saving me a packet:)

mikemac

Notogoldenpages wrote: »

Nearly everyone uses the internet.

You're posting on boards and you obviously know your way around the internet.
There are hundreds of thousands of people who have dial-up internet at best and hundreds of thousands more who wouldn't have a clue how to operate a computer.
Why the assumption that everyone has as much knowledge or confidence with computers as the posters here?

If you did want to get rid the directory, one solution would be a freephone number and people would run through the options and services.

But it won't be going anytime soon, it's a moneyspinner!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

micmclo wrote: »

There are hundreds of thousands of people who have dial-up internet at best and hundreds of thousands more who wouldn't have a clue how to operate a computer.
Why the assumption that everyone has as much knowledge or confidence with computers as the posters here?

If you did want to get rid the directory, one solution would be a freephone number and people would run through the options and services.

I agree fully with you regarding the use of the Internet nationally and accept that not everybody uses the Internet. But, that still doesn't negate the argument that the frequency of the Golden Pages, or its widesptread, distribution should be questioned with a view to reducing the numbers produced.

Run_to_da_hills

Consider it as Its an annual free fire log dilivered to your doorstep

seamus

The vast majority of people still use the Golden Pages and not the web.

You can't see the big ads on goldenpages.ie - these often contain information on opening times and so forth.

Opening a book is 500 times faster than booting up your laptop, putting your password, waiting for everything to load, waiting for the network to connect....oh wait, no connection, reboot router....waiting for the network to connect, wait for IE to load, wait for goldenpages.ie to return 50 pages of irrelevant material.....

Your request is ridiculous. A bit like saying that all newspapers should be closed down cos shure you can get your news on the web now.

And having a golden pages on your doorstep for a few hours is not going to convince scumbags that the house is empty. They just leave it on the doorstep even if you're at home. That's possibly the weakest argument I've seen in a long time.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

seamus wrote: »

The vast majority of people still use the Golden Pages and not the web.

You can't see the big ads on goldenpages.ie - these often contain information on opening times and so forth.

Opening a book is 500 times faster than booting up your laptop, putting your password, waiting for everything to load, waiting for the network to connect....oh wait, no connection, reboot router....waiting for the network to connect, wait for IE to load, wait for goldenpages.ie to return 50 pages of irrelevant material.....

Your request is ridiculous. A bit like saying that all newspapers should be closed down cos shure you can get your news on the web now.

And having a golden pages on your doorstep for a few hours is not going to convince scumbags that the house is empty. They just leave it on the doorstep even if you're at home. That's possibly the weakest argument I've seen in a long time.

`
I think you're missing the point. What about reducing the frequency of the book and only deliver it where it is wanted? We could argue all day about what is on-line V the book and how many businesses don't use the Yellow Pages anyway because of the cost, but if we just consentrate on the Reduce angle it would be a start. I agree that it is not practical to do away with it but surely you can agree that the number of copies can be reduced and that people who don't want it should have a choice and not receive it at all instead of having to throw it in the recycling bin!

SuperGrover

I think the OP has a good point about the environmental impact coupled with the changing times.

I live in an apartment and every year a pile of directories arrives. Mostly they go unused. I don't use them.

Now, here's the thing, surely there could be an opt-in or opt-out register of some sort.

Those who want them, get them. Those who don't, don't.

seamus

Sarai Fat Pickax wrote: »

`
I think you're missing the point. What about reducing the frequency of the book and only deliver it where it is wanted? We could argue all day about what is on-line V the book and how many businesses don't use the Yellow Pages anyway because of the cost, but if we just consentrate on the Reduce angle it would be a start. I agree that it is not practical to do away with it but surely you can agree that the number of copies can be reduced and that people who don't want it should have a choice and not receive it at all instead of having to throw it in the recycling bin!

If you contact them and tell them you don't want it to be delivered to your house, they're obliged to respect your wishes. It's unsolicited communication.

Sam Vimes

Roundtower2 wrote: »

presumably there were guards in Nazi concentration camps that lost there jobs after 1945 who had mortgages. not really a valid point imo

godwin's law

/thread

i think the paper copy has it's place but it should be opt in rather than compulsory

calex71

i personally the residential phonebook is an even bigger waste of space. id imagine a very high percentage of people would have all the numbers of close friends and family etc. where as they would actually use the goldenpages a lot more for things like finding a local plumber etc if god forbid they had no interwebs.

On a side note i do love the smell of the new phonebooks
and has anyone noticed how small they have become in recent times :pac:

ejmaztec

People pay big bucks to get a listing in the Golden Pages and the directory always makes an interesting read.

I can't believe that anyone would regard "The Golden Pages" on their doorstep as a serious problem. If they dropped them out of helicopters from a few thousand feet, that would be a serious problem. :eek:

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

ejmaztec wrote: »

I can't believe that anyone would regard "The Golden Pages" on their doorstep as a serious problem. If they dropped them out of helicopters from a few thousand feet, that would be a serious problem. :eek:

While the dropping of the book on the doorstep is a minor point in the whole "environmental argument" I feel you need to think about where the doorstep is!
In our rural area the books are dropped on the road (no footpaths remember) outside the gates of the houses and get blown about by passing traffic. Some are put on the piers of gates but they usually fall off. Some are just dropped at the end of long laneways; some of these laneways are no longer used and the books lie there until I or other neighbours pick them up and dispose of them. It's a minor point, granted, but needs saying.

ejmaztec

Sarai Fat Pickax wrote: »

While the dropping of the book on the doorstep is a minor point in the whole "environmental argument" I feel you need to think about where the doorstep is!
In our rural area the books are dropped on the road (no footpaths remember) outside the gates of the houses and get blown about by passing traffic. Some are put on the piers of gates but they usually fall off. Some are just dropped at the end of long laneways; some of these laneways are no longer used and the books lie there until I or other neighbours pick them up and dispose of them. It's a minor point, granted, but needs saying.

If you pardon the expression, the distributor needs to be brought to book if they're not actually delivering them to an address. Perhaps if some of them were prosecuted for littering, they might not take the lazy way out. I live in a rural area, but relatively close to a main road, but I can see the problem that people can get in more remote areas.

A friend of mine in a UK town found a couple of hundred free weekly ad papers under his hedge after some lazy bugger decided that he'd had enough for the day.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

Sam Vimes wrote: »

godwin's law

/thread

You know who else wanted to get rid of telephone directories ... ?

amtc

It's a bit more complicated than that. Under European and Irish law, everyone has to be given a telephone directory. ComReg has made some changes as to how that it provided recently.

As it's not personally addressed, companies are not required to remove you from any listing (because there isn't a listing)

Random

It shouldn't be "opt out if you don't want this lump of paper on your doorstep that you have to pay to dispose of" - it should be "opt in!!!!"

MOH

Notogoldenpages wrote: »

They are useless, ask youself when was the last time you used one?? Nearly everyone uses the internet.

Eh, no. They don't.

Jumpy

I can tear them in half.

mikemac

When NTL sent me junkmail with FREEPOST address, I use my telephone directory to post to them

I keep the Golden Pages, they're invaluable.
Seriously OP, not everyone knows how to use the internet or even has access to the internet. Ever been to rural Ireland?

Jumpy wrote: »

I can tear them in half.

Impressive :cool:

Cabaal

I believe they sghould only be supplied to people on request

Zamboni

I think the OP has a point. It is a shocking waste of paper.
I hate GP directories almost as much as crap newsletters from a church in my area.

craichoe

http://www.paperlesspetition.org/

Cabaal

craichoe wrote: »

http://www.paperlesspetition.org/

doesn't appear to cover Ireland at all

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Cabaal wrote: »

doesn't appear to cover Ireland at all

+1

air

Hi guys,
I decided to dig this up as I recently got my phone book / golden pages through my letterbox again. I dont have a landline and never requested the book. I took the books to the recycling centre last year.

I've sent an email to truvo which I'm pretty confident is never going to be replied to. Anyway my own solution is that I'm going to personally deliver the phone book to their head office on Waterloo Road (with a large printed note saying "I never asked for this") as I'm often in that area.
I feel if a few thousand other people started doing this they might start to get the message.

eth0_

In a way I agree with the OP, but there are still a huge amount of people who use the goldenpages and don't use the internet.

I think it would be better if you could opt-out of receiving the book.

air

eth0_ wrote: »

In a way I agree with the OP, but there are still a huge amount of people who use the goldenpages and don't use the internet.

I think it would be better if you could opt-out of receiving the book.

I think a pallet of them in the local post office for a few weeks would be sufficient, the same way Argos do it. You pick it up if you want it.
They're a commercial company profiting directly from causing unnecessary waste, they derseve no sympathy IMO.

georgem25

air wrote: »

I think a pallet of them in the local post office for a few weeks would be sufficient, the same way Argos do it. You pick it up if you want it.

+1

ztoical

Notogoldenpages wrote: »

Have you had enough? Call Goldenpages now, not later, now 1800 20 20 20 and tell them you didn't ask for a directory and you don't want it.

I want it - Printmakers use yellowpages to wipe plates when printing etchings. I've stacks of the things in my studio right now, I tell all my family and friends to give me any ones they're finished with so if people don't want theirs I'll take them.

Dudess

egan007 wrote: »

Whether I think Sellafield should be closed down or the golden pages should be closed is irrelevant to my point. What I'm simply pointing out is that the OP has not thought about the consequences of an action. Such consequences will hinder their success.

Why should their success be a concern though? Times change, people change, business has to move in accordance with that.

Is 1000 people who have been working in Sellafield for 20 years and have little prospect of future employment, considered by the British government when deciding on Sellafield's future - you better believe it, it's one of the primary factors.

Doesn't make it correct though. There are certain truths that just have to be accepted as they are a reality of life - products become obsolete, businesses will close, jobs will be lost.

What's the point in trying to change something for the sake of it

The OP listed a number of reasons to support his assertion that Golden Pages is obsolete on a lot of levels - that's not trying to change something "for the sake of it".

drunkmonkey wrote: »

how about knocking all papers down to 3 days a week.....Tuesday, Friday and Sunday....not sure how it would effect our co2 emissions but it can't hurt...

There's still a huge market for newspapers though - I'd wager nearly every household wants a newspaper at the breakfast table and I doubt the number of households that require a Golden Pages directory is on a par with that.
It's predicted that newspapers will largely die out eventually.
We've a choice as to whether we want to purchase/avail of newspapers anyway...

seamus wrote: »

The vast majority of people still use the Golden Pages and not the web.

You can't see the big ads on goldenpages.ie - these often contain information on opening times and so forth.

Opening a book is 500 times faster than booting up your laptop, putting your password, waiting for everything to load, waiting for the network to connect....oh wait, no connection, reboot router....waiting for the network to connect, wait for IE to load, wait for goldenpages.ie to return 50 pages of irrelevant material

Aye, but most people know how to operate a telephone, and phoning Directory Enquiries is probably as fast as getting your Golden Pages, finding the correct page, skimming down to the number you want, then dialling it... in fact it's probably faster in some cases.

And it's also possible to narrow things down more now - e.g. the "Thai restaurant in Cork" or whatever option.

mumhaabu

I love the way these environmental nazis are always trying to ban everything, what nutters. The Golden pages are invaluable and should not be got rid of, the majority of rural Ireland has no internet access unless you count 9600bits crappy dialup.

Paper can be recycled and who cares it is a renewable resource, if these directorys were using up valuable Oil I'd be concerned.

We should concentrate on getting more important things like more Landfill, Offshore Drilling and getting rid of the Co2 based tax. God gave us the world and we can do what we want with it.

Dudess

This is Consumer Issues: not a platform for your "wahey, I'm da man cuz I'm really anti environmentalist and I support Sarah Palin [yeah, sure you do]" rants...

Great idea OP.

Cabaal

the op's idea is sound, however perhaps with some changes, don't outlaw them completely but have pickup points...if people want them they can pick one up but they need to stop giving them to every bloody house with a phone line.

The one I received is still wrapped in plastic and I use it to flatten down my recyclable items before I bin them, when it starts to fall apart its going to join those items....

seamus

Dudess wrote: »

Aye, but most people know how to operate a telephone, and phoning Directory Enquiries is probably as fast as getting your Golden Pages, finding the correct page, skimming down to the number you want, then dialling it... in fact it's probably faster in some cases.

And it's also possible to narrow things down more now - e.g. the "Thai restaurant in Cork" or whatever option.

I dunno, it might be just me, but I'd rather be presented with a list of options instead of asking someone on the phone for the number of a thai restaurant in Cork and having them pick it for me.

Directory Enquiries is great if you know exactly who you need a number for, but not great if you're looking for a specific service. IMO, anyway.

Hitchhiker's Guide to...

mumhaabu wrote: »

I love the way these environmental nazis are always trying to ban everything, what nutters. The Golden pages are invaluable and should not be got rid of, the majority of rural Ireland has no internet access unless you count 9600bits crappy dialup.

Paper can be recycled and who cares it is a renewable resource, if these directorys were using up valuable Oil I'd be concerned.

We should concentrate on getting more important things like more Landfill, Offshore Drilling and getting rid of the Co2 based tax. God gave us the world and we can do what we want with it.

lol. thread has been godwin'ed