I only stumbled upon this website via FB, but apparently since 2015 you can opt out of receiving the Yellow/White pages phone books (here in the Waikato they are combined in to one).
Here is the website link if anyone is interested in saving trees
[ypgbooks.co.nz]

Excellent!

Thanks, Irene. I haven't used a phone book in a very long time and hate throwing them straight in the recycling bin.

I read somewhere that these days most phone books are used for elevating computer screens or for achilles tendon stretches.

Good idea though to be able to opt out - most people search on-line for a landline no. but increasingly people are getting rid of landlines (I am on the verge of doing so).

Regards,

Barbara Anne

Barbara Anne Wrote:
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> Good idea though to be able to opt out - most
> people search on-line for a landline no. but
> increasingly people are getting rid of landlines
> (I am on the verge of doing so).
>


We haven't had a landline for maybe 3 to 4 months now Barbara Anne, and have not missed it. I have just upgraded my mobile plan and have unlimited calling. If friends/family are charged for calling mobiles, they know to flick me a text and I will ring them. It has been heaven, as all we were receiving in the end was scam phone calls - now the house is blissfully peaceful

Thanks Irene, that's good to know. I've opted out.

We haven't had a land line for about five years. Initially we had to manage a couple of older relatives who saw cell phone calls as "toll calls" and therefore too expensive, but they calmed down, and it's a relief to have no more scam calls other than the very occasional cell phone one.

While we live well within the Auckland city limits - and only 8 min from Warkworth, we have next to no mobile coverage at our house. Half the house gets 1 bar of service, so if I'm expecting a call or text, I have to leave my phone in the kitchen with the ringer turned all the way up.

Vodafone installed a new tower about 10km from us last year, which drastically improved the area's coverage - however we're just on the wrong side of a hill to be able to make use of it. On the coverage maps, our property and our neighbour across the road are the only dead spaces within about 20km. I'd love to be able to get rid of the house phone - $50/month we wouldn't have to spend! Thankfully we don't get any scam/telemarketing calls.

Just to make you all feel better, we live in , what was West Auckland , but is now becoming more central city as the spread towards Kumeu gets faster. We are in a small no exit street of 10 houses, broadband went up the main street that our street exits on to. Our sections were all marked but they packed up and went away. We only have adsl connection and that only works sometimes. It is a joke in our street that the one wire is shared by all, whoever complains the most gets to use the wire until the next person complains. So one person in the street has reasonable connection while the rest of us complain loudly and refuse to pay our supply bills. We are not going to be upgraded until 2019. We have been offered wireless modems but in our area they don't work when in rains and in Auckland that is often. It is so primitive that most of the time we can only have one device working at a time. We can't do without our landlines.

Stephanie, we are much the same. No fibre scheduled to come near our house, ever. We got ADSL in the road about 2 years ago, before that everyone had to have super expensive and quite unreliable satellite connections which stop working when it rains. We too are a dead end road of about 12 properties, but we get usable speeds, about 7MB down. Not fantastic, but enough to stream to one, sometimes 2 devices at a time, in SD only of course! I think the only reason it is that fast is because I don't think many people on the street know they can actually get ADSL now or just stick with the satellite because they're used to it. There are only 4 families with at home children, so I think the others don't notice so much, or perhaps don't have as much usage all at the same time!

It must have been incredibly disappointing to have faster service be so close.. yet so very far, ugh.

Paper Yellow/White pages are useful if you're not exactly sure a name is spelled, it's easy to find a name you're not sure of by searching near the word you think it could be. The internet version, in my experience, requires the exact spelling or you don't get a result.

Hmmm, my husband prints those white and yellow pages, they currently have reduced to one crew. I guess you can chose what is more important to you, trees or jobs.

I like the little local version covering the Coromandel Peninsula, which gets used quite a bit throughout the year. The large one covering the whole province sits on my bookshelf, unopened, from one edition till the next, when the older one gets turfed into the recycling bin.

Griz, I really sympathise with your hubby. But I guess that is what happens with progress,which doesn't help with the aftermath does it, ie job losses.

I was reminiscing with friends the other day about this Department store we had in Hamilton, and when I was small there was always a lift attendant - of course his job went by the by, and that was without the advent of technology. One of my early jobs was as a PABX operator for the NZ Dairy Company (now Fonterra) There were four of us manning this large switchboard (plug in type), and that is a non existent job now

Technology certainly has a lot to answer for.

Oh yes! I just did this - One of the Greens were promoting this on facebook - so pleased to have seen it as I simply put the books in the recycle bin as soon as they come ....

Does anyone still use them?

They've just dropped the print run by 10%, so by that calculation my husband might have 2 or 3 years of employment left.

I'm a believer of when one door closes another opens. I used to work in publishing in magazines and they cut people left right and centre, but I used it as an opportunity to re-skill, and move sideways.

Does your husband only print the yellow pages? Does he print anything else?

He's 53, been a printer all his life, they currently only print the white and yellow pages. I realise that times change, but it's hard when it affects you like this. Our fall back plan is to go to Australia where I am guaranteed work at about twice as much as I can earn here.

Re-training and/or changing careers can be an exciting challenge at 35, and rather more scary and difficult when you're over 50. Employers don't tend to want new recruits who are that age, and family financial commitments can make even a temporary pay drop a really really big deal. Sorry your husband is in such a difficult position, Griz. Good you have a backup plan, even if it involves a large move.

My big question would be why would anyone want to move to a country where you're treated like a second-class citizen with no social rights or benefits just because you're a New Zealander?

Because I can earn twice as much money over there, thereby paying our mortgage here, whilst also saving for retirement.