I became very excited today at the news that it was possible to opt out of receiving the Yellow Pages.

Which excitement turned slightly custardy upon finding that this option was available in the US, not New Zealand.

The next question, of course, was ‘is it possible to do so in our fair, green country?’.  And the answer, interestingly, is a resounding ‘NO’.

It seems that the terms of Telecom’s 2007 sale of Yellow Pages to a private equity consortium consisting of CCMP Capital and Teachers’ Private Capital included the requirement that it deliver its products to all of New Zealand**.

Why would one not want to receive such things?  Well, for me at least: I look up phone numbers/addresses online.  Getting a large amount of paper which I neither need, nor will use, every year seems to be hugely wasteful in a bunch of different ways. 

Surely it would save everyone time, money* and, well, trees (plus assorted chemicals, fuel, etc) if those who weren’t gonna use the paper-based version, didn’t have it made and delivered on their behalf anyway?

Further investigations continue: watch this space. 

UPDATE: Facebook group established: see here.

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* It would appear that the YP’s financial state was making people nervous last year…

** I’m in the process of trying to find the terms of reference of this sale, as it was mentioned to me that the ‘whole of NZ’ may have come down from the powers that be, and such requirements might not continue to be, well, requirements for much longer.