December 15, 2007:

 

 

 

Purpose:  The Department of General Services (DGS) is committed to saving energy, conserving resources, and having a positive impact on the environment.  This memorandum provides guidance to all DGS employees regarding the use of phone directories (e.g., White Pages and Yellow Pages).

 

Background/Impact of Paper Use:  In 2006, 900 hard copies of the White Pages and Yellow Pages were ordered for DGS employees at the Ziggurat.  According to SBC (now AT&T), approximately 21 percent of prior year phone books were recycled-in other words, up to 80 percent of old phone books went to landfill.  More than one-fifth of the waste sent to California municipal landfills is paper, which, when decomposed, breaks down and produces methane, a powerful climate-changing gas.  Already, Californians generate 44 million tons of garbage each year which equals nearly eight pounds of solid waste, per person, per day.  The DGS is committed to reducing, not just recycling, the amount of waste its employees create on the job.

 

DGS Policies Regarding Paper Use:  The DGS Sustainable Copy Paper Policy (Administrative Order 06-04) states that the DGS should utilize documents in electronic form instead of paper, hard copy form, whenever possible.  (See page 3, http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/green/EPP/AO06-04.pdf.)  In addition, the State Administrative Manual Section 1900, et. seq. states that one of the program goals for State agencies is to "set up a waste prevention and recycling example for other public and private institutions in California."  (See California State Administrative Manual. http://sam.dgs.ca.gov/TOC/1900/1901.htm.)

 

Working Green and Phone Directories:  Given the DGS' commitment to saving resources and having a positive impact on the environment, DGS employees should give high priority to reducing their use of paper and will, where possible, maximize the use of online, electronic versions of phone books.

 

A limited supply of hard copy phone books will be made available to DGS employees at the Ziggurat.  One set will be accessible at DGS front reception desks on each floor of the Ziggurat and will be supplied to office supply coordinators.  When the phone books are published in March 2007, the reception desk and supply coordinators will be contacted directly by a representative of the DGS' Reuse and Recycling Team.  Whenever possible, employees are encouraged to use a shared copy of the phone books at the receptionist's desk.  Note:  All remaining hard copy phone books are to be recycled when they are replaced.

 

Accessing the Electronic Version of the White and Yellow Pages:  Commencing with the publication of the 2007 White Pages and Yellow Pages, DGS employees will maximize their use of online phone directories.

 

DGS employees within the Sacramento area can access the Sacramento White Pages and Yellow Pages at http://sacyellowpages.dgs.ca.gov/, which is also available directly as an option on the DGS Intranet.  An optional e-training session can be accessed for first-time users when first opening this screen.  DGS employees outside the Sacramento area can access their local Yellow Pages and White Pages online at http://www.attyponline.com/.  The above links direct users to an exact replica of the current version of the local phone book.

 

This Working Green policy will enable Ziggurat employees at DGS to further statewide goals of preventing and reducing waste, reducing overall paper consumption, and conserving natural resources.

 

 

 

 

Ron Joseph
Director

Updated : 7/23/2007