Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all?

Save the planet: No More Directories and No More Yellow Pages! | That Danny!

Save the planet: No More Directories and No More Yellow Pages! | That Danny! — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:53:21 GMT

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re: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all?

Darian Watts — Mon, 19 May 2008 23:03:30 GMT

There's a reason they aren't called the Green Pages. Because they aren't. Chris has a very valid point about dumping copies on doorsteps. Add to that the red business pages and Thomson and that's a lot of paper. I am surprised it's 66% of homes recycle their Yellow pages. In my area most end up in bins and my council won't recycle them (or window envelopes and plastic milk bottles). Maybe I'm in the 1% but after they empty the paper bins they leave the yellow pages. In these modern times of digital communications why do we have the Yellow Pages except to sell ads?

re: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all?

Mark Griffiths — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:26:50 GMT

Well, OK, then, Fraser Peett. If the argument is not about people doing something positive about the environmental impact their brand makes, but about which brands shouldn't exist because we personally don't think they should...can I ban all video games, not just Grand Theft Auto? Oh, and Manchester United, too. Not to mention Ryan Air...

re: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all?

Mark Griffiths — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:23:47 GMT

To answer Fraser Peett, I don't think Chris's point or yours should be telling people what they do or don't need. The point is that all brands create environmental footprints, so all should be accountable. Recyclability is a part of accountability, whether you like it or not. Whether brands should continue to exist is another debate entirely - but a debate, not a diktat. It's nothing to do with you not using them or liking them (if it was, I'd ban all video games, not just Grand Theft Auto). As such, it behoves any brand to do something about their environmental impact. This still seems to be something that many of you guys sitting on the sidelines just don't seem to get - people getting on and doing something about it. You still think it's 'worthy', don't you. Wake up. Cynicism doesn't help anybody.

re: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all?

Peter Martin — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:49:28 GMT

Amen, and well said (inc..... especially the bit about the bags. Just got my latest, much fairer P&P, sets from the Dailys Mail and Telegraph - from when they were having a quick green movement/week/day. I was going to say you can never have enough... but my collection is now getting to surplus (which begs other overall 'eco' questions). I was going to blog on this, but you really have covered most, so I'll piggy back. I was at first keen on entering this contest, but having read what it was all about, plus the fee, soon lost interest: http://junkk.blogspot.com/2007/12/awards-sunday-times-best-green.html These 'eco/green' specials, especially those with an award or ranking, are really getting quite out of control. It's almost as if the media dept. is calling up editorial and saying 'hey, here's a way to make money. And oh, by the way, we can call it 'green', for extra kudos on us too!' I have not read the articles in this latest issue (frankly one look and it became a duty rather than a joy to even spare it for subsequent professional review as opposed to personal interest), but I truly hope the editorial standards have not been shaped by who the sponsors are, as much as they have been in the past: http://junkk.blogspot.com/2007/12/he-who-pays-piper.html On a purely subjective, creative note, I was also struck by how unutterably dull it all was. What was there to excite... motivate? I know it was a business insert, but the general public do read the ST too. This extra wadge of newsprint must have ended up straight to bi... er..recycling. Oh, the irony. The shame of it is that it was... is a nice idea (once the rather disingenuous distinctions of the measures of merit used are resolved), and could have been great. Also that there are, doubtless, a few genuine folk in there who scraped together the necessary to compete and deserve a big up. But sadly, they are not finding themselves always in the 'best' company or, forgive me... 'environment'. I have to say that I am starting to look at many 'green' awards, and many 'conferences/summits', as more methods to create income (often from those who can ill-afford the budgets) and/or drive spurious PR for those able to afford to enter or lobby the organisers and/or 'expert' judges they hire, which serves the worthy guys out there poorly indeed.

re: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all?

FP — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:53:26 GMT

I think the point was that you don't need these things in the first place, not that they are recyclable. Regardless of the second use of the paper, there is a huge amount of energy needed to create the original item and dump in on everyone's front doormat. Ours travels from front door to recycling without us using extra calorific energy to open it which we consider part of 'doing our bit'.

re: Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all?

Mark Griffiths — Mon, 19 May 2008 08:59:02 GMT

Chris, there are stories behind each one of the organisations that wins a place in this listing and you need to get your facts right about Yellow Pages. We work with the Yellow Pages Directory Recycling Scheme. Yellow Pages are fully recyclable into cardboard, animal bedding, packaging, insulation and newsprint. 99% of local authorities now collect them for recycling and 66% of households recycled them last year. And more than a quarter million school kids have been recycling them each year via The Yellow Woods Challenge, a schools environmental competition run in conjunction with The Woodland Trust and local authorities.