Is it time to hang up on the phone book?

Online directory 192.com has teamed up with environmental charity Global Action Plan to launch a new campaign designed to slash the number of phone books that are distributed each year, delivering significant cuts in carbon emissions and waste paper in the process.

The Say No To Phonebooks campaign is calling on the government to create a centralised opt-in system that would allow people to request when they need a new phone book.

It is backed by the results of a survey of 1,000 UK adults, which found that 70 per cent of respondents would support an opt-in system.

As a provider of online directory services, 192.com obviously has a vested interest in killing off the iconic phone book, but the company maintains there are valid environmental reasons for cutting down on the 75 million phonebooks that are delivered annually to homes and businesses.

It said that annual production of phone books uses up 62,000 tonnes of paper, enough electricity to power 59,000 homes for a year, and two billion litres of water. The full life cycle through production to recycling also results in 79,360 metric tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

Dominic Blackburn, product director for 192.com, said that limiting the number of phone books distributed each year would simply bring the sector into line with the government's wider efforts to tackle junk mail. "The government long ago legislated against the delivery of unwanted junk mail, but has chosen to turn a blind eye to the weightiest junk mail of all," he said. "Reducing waste is one of the simplest things we can do to protect the environment."

His comments were echoed by Trewin Restorick, chief executive of Global Action Plan, who argued that the continued use of the phone book was evidence of a wider reluctance to reduce waste levels by embracing online systems. "We need to wake up to the fact that new technologies mean we can create less waste by doing more things on-line," he said. "There is no need for everybody in the UK to receive a phone book and people should be given the choice of whether or not they receive books."

Curbing distribution of phone books could also have benefits for council tax payers, according to Councillor Greg Smith, cabinet member for crime and street scene for the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. "It costs taxpayers more than £22,700 a year to pay for the clear-up of the waste created by phone books in our borough," he said. "We are encouraging all of our residents to recycle, so it is only fair that we make sure they are not sent huge books that they simply do not want."