I can’t remember the last time I used a phonebook. Each year several phone companies deliver thick books in plastic bags and each year I dutifully recycle the previous years books, still in the delivery bags and place the current set atop the fridge where they will sit unused. Clearly I am not the target audience for the phone book.
When I needed to find a plumber one year, I called a friend for recomendations. When I need a phone number and I’m not on wifi’d somewhere I call 1-800-free-411. They even have a website. Addresses? Google. In fact Google serves up pretty much any bit of info I need. Including how to stop the delivery of phonebooks.
1. Opt Out
Click here to request that your name and address be removed from the Yellow Pages printed directory mailing list.
2. Get Just One
If you still want to get one phone book, not 10 at a time. Call the individual titles directly. Tell them how many books you want a year and to stop unloading duplicates on your front porch.
AT&T/YellowPages (formerly SBC and Bell South):
1-800-792-265
Dex:
1-877-243-8339
Yellow Book:
1-800-373-3280 or 1-800-373-2324
3. Write a letter to the Yellow Pages Association
Yellow Pages Association (YPA)
Global Headquarters
Two Connell Drive, First Floor
Berkeley Heights, N.J. 07922-2747
(908) 286-2380
(908) 286-0620 (Fax)
4. Go To The Head Honcho
Hit up the president of the Yellow Pages Association for some one-on-one fire.
Mr. Negley (Neg) Norton
President, Yellow Pages Association (YPA)
Two Connell Drive, First Floor
Berkeley Heights, N.J. 07922-2747
(908) 286-2385
Neg.Norton@ypassociation.org
5. Sign the Petition
Tell congress to make unsolicited phone book distribution illegal. Sign the petition at PaperlessPetition.org.
6. Recycle
Now what to do with all those old phone books collecting dust? Recycle them of course. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, for every 500 phone books recycled, 7,000 gallons of water, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 17 to 31 trees and 4,100 kilowatts of electricity are saved. That’s enough power to serve an average home for 6 months.
In most cases, you can simply toss your old phone book in your curbside paper-recycling bin. Some regions, however, require phone books be dropped off at specified recycling centers. To learn the rules for your district, visit the “Keep American Beautiful” recycling directory.
If you don’t want to recycle your old phone books, repurpose them for something useful. Yellow pages make excellent booster seats, cockroach killers and X-acto knife cutting surfaces.
