A poll by welovelocal.com suggests 35% of Brits would prefer not to receive printed business directories at home – preferring instead to look up information on the internet or to go by recommendations from friends.

The survey, conducted by YouGov, shows that 32% of the British public has not used a printed business directory to look up products or services in the last six months. Of the 1,974 respondents 35% said they would prefer not to receive printed business directories at home.

Other finding were that 51% of respondents primarily use the internet to find local businesses and services and that 67% trust word of mouth more than advertising.

The two main business directories, the Yellow Pages and Thomson Local, distributed 50 million directories to British households in 2007. The poll suggest 17.5 million of these books are never used. Max Jennings, founder of welovelocal.com, commented: "More than 17.5 million unwanted directories are produced every year which, if stacked on top of each other, would be over 50 times the height of Mount Everest. The waste is staggering, particularly when this survey demonstrates that 51% of all British adults are now using the internet to find local businesses."

Consumers wishing to opt out of receiving the Yellow Pages can do so by contacting Yell on free phone 0800 671 444. To cancel the Thomson Local directory consumers can phone 01252 555 555 or e-mail info@thomsonlocal.com.