A friend of mine stopped by the office the other day and saw the stacks of phone books delivered to all the doors in my office building. He asked me the question above. "Does anybody actually still use paper phone books anymore?"
I admitted to him that I still keep a set of white pages and yellow pages in my office just in case I ever need them. Maybe 2 or 3 times a year I actually crack them open to try and find something.
After all, with the growth of the internet, it is so much easier to simply search online for the person or business you are looking for. On top of that most people are much easier reached on their cell phone than they are on a home phone number anyway. About 6 months ago, I took the plunge and canceled my home phone line altogether. Why pay for it if I'm hardly even using it??
All that being said, it frustrates me to no end to see all the phone book companies still piling up phone books on everyone. Can't there be some sort of opt-out for these? Our office building has probably 40 offices in it. My phone company (Embarq) delivers a white page, a yellow page, and a little "convenient" combination book to every single office door. Then a few weeks later AT&T stops by and delivers 3 more books. Then Verizon stops by and brings more. This past weekend somebody else brought me 3 Seminole County special directories. ENOUGH ALREADY!!!
I keep the main 2 from my local company Embarq, but the other 7 or so books go straight into the recycling bin. I am sure the other 40 office tenants probably just throw theirs right in the trash. Now multiply that by 4 other office buildings in my complex, plus the fact that they deliver another 6 or so books to my house every year. Ugggh!
Honestly, this waste of good trees needs to stop. Hardly anyone I know even uses these phone books. If it were up to me, these phone companies would get massive fines for this callous disregard for the environment. To me, all they are doing is littering. OK. End of my rant! Everybody go out and hug a tree.
:-)
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Rob Arnold - Your full service and investor friendly Realtor ® in Orlando and Central Florida.
ABR, CPL, CRB, CSP, GRI, Managing real estate broker, Notary Public
407-389-7318 / 1-877-389-7318 www.SDRhouses.com We Buy Houses Florida
We sell foreclosures, short sales, and bank owned REO properties throughout Central Florida. We sell and list Central Florida real estate and Orlando real estate. Free list of foreclosure and short sale houses available.
I also provide flat fee MLS listings, For Sale By Owner, and menu-based services in most parts of Central & South Florida, the Space Coast, and the Treasure Coast including Orlando, Winter Park, Maitland, Ocoee, Winter Garden, Apopka, Altamonte Springs, Casselberry, Longwood, Winter Springs, Oviedo, Lake Mary, Sanford, Deltona, Debary, Deland, Mount Dora, Eustis, Clermont, Kissimmee, Winter Haven, Lakeland, Tampa, Sarasota, Bradenton, Miami-Dade, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Port Saint Lucie, Melbourne, Daytona Beach, Ocala, Gainesville, Volusia, Brevard, and more.
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