How many phone books do you get a year?
How many do you use?
When we moved into this house there were eight gigantic phone books and four small ones sitting on a closet shelf. The shelf was sagging under the weight. Two days after our phone service was turned on, another two or three books were delivered.
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t used a phone book in years. Everything’s online! Maybe it’s time for those businesses trying to make a buck with their version of the Yellow Pages to rethink their business model. Enough with the dead trees already.
On the positive side, phone books don’t have to be a complete waste. Like any other book, they can be modified into something useful and fun. This week’s Once A Book project turns an old phone book into a pen and pencil holder.
Chica at the ChicaAndJo.com, posted this tutorial on how to Recycle a phone book into a pen organizer. The tutorial has photos to help with the process, and although there are a lot of steps, it seems straight forward. It’s a great way to do something useful with these dinosaurs, but if you’re feeling more ambitious (and have a lot of phone books), here’s an option.
Joking aside, the phone books are not just a nuisance in the closet. They use too many resources: paper, ink, gas for delivery, for something that most people toss directly into recycling, or worse, the trash. To stop delivery, visit Yellow Pages Go Green.
Away with Words 
I totally agree. They need to go green! They have a website now anyway! I guess there are just still some people out there that don’t use the internet (my 95 year old grandmother, at least) and need the phonebook. In this case, I think you should be able to request or opt in with your phone provider once you sign up. Saves tress, gas, money, etc!
Thanks for the link! Will be browsing your site for awhile now!
Oh, I don’t know . . . phone books have their advantages. If you’re alone at night, the power has been cut off or your computer is down, you can use a phone book to while away the time in the candlelight. Just think of those names you’ll come across, people you knew never even existed!
I haven’t had phone books delivered for many years, but they were useful a couple of times when I was stuck with a name for a character.
But imdb.com works almost as well. 🙂