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Back in September, fellow blogger Ransom asked how to stop unwanted phone books. I have long wondered this myself, as I use the internet for all my phone number lookups. Now, I don’t think the phone book is a bad thing — it’s just something that I don’t need, and it gets old picking up the new phone book and dumping it right in the recycling bin. So after a little research, today I’ll offer the long-sought answer to this problem. Yes folks, you can finally stop the delivery of phone books you don’t want, effectively short-circuiting the recent routine of phone book delivery and immediate recycling.
Thanks to Shelby Wood of The Oregonian, stopping the phone books is just a click (or call, or actually several calls) away. Wood writes:
GET FEWER PHONE BOOKS
Several Web sites claim to be able to remove you from phone book delivery lists, but there’s no guarantee publishers will honor any third-party request. For now, the best way to reduce or eliminate deliveries is to contact each publisher.
DEX/Qwest: Go to dexknows.com; select “directory options” at bottom of page; click through screens until you see “personalize your directory order.” Under “available directories in your area,” choose 0, 1, 2 or 3 from pull-down menus. Or call (800) 422-8793, press 2 to speak with a person
Yellow Book: (800) 929-3556, press 3 to speak with a person
Idearc/Verizon: (800) 888-8448, remain on line to speak to a person
Other phone books: Check for a phone number for customer service or “to order directories” on front cover or inside page
Recycling: Outdated or unwanted phone books can be included in curbside carts
More information:
And to the above I’ll add a bit from Common Craft:
AT&T/YellowPages (formerly SBC and Bell South): 1.800.792.2665
Read the rest of Wood’s article for an interesting analysis of phone book statistics — including this fact: “a whopping 80 percent [of phone books] will end up in a landfill.”
See also: do not call lists and The Trouble with Phone Books.
Comments (26)
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Wow, I was just thinking about this the other week! I’m a bit dismayed to learn then, that the only way to get rid of these unwanted tree-killers is to call each company individually. *sigh*
posted by CK on 10-29-2008 at 3:18 pm
Unbelievably, in my community, we can recycle newspaper and magazines but specifically NOT phone books!!
WHY? I have no idea.
posted by Betsy on 10-29-2008 at 3:32 pm
I remember recycling phone books as a girl scout. we went around and collected them. I think i still have the patch, actually…i sewed it onto some jeans.
posted by MamaBug on 10-29-2008 at 3:59 pm
While the popular myth is that this industry is responsible for the neutering of forests, the reality is the Yellow Pages industry doesn’t knock down any trees for its paper!!! Let me repeat that – they don’t need to cut any trees for their paper supply.
Currently, on average, most publishers are using about 40% recycled material (from the newspapers and magazines you are recycling curbside), and the other 60% comes from wood chips and waste products of the lumber industry. If you take a round tree and make square or rectangular lumber from it, you get plenty of chips and other waste. Those by-products make up the other 60% of the raw material needed.
Note that these waste products created in lumber milling would normally end up in landfills.
And if your local recycling program doesn’t take phone books, ask them why not? The book is fully recyclable.
posted by kenc on 10-29-2008 at 4:32 pm
kenc thanks so much for pointing out that paper doesn’t come from cutting down virgin forest.
posted by kat on 10-29-2008 at 6:00 pm
I called every single one of these guys over a year ago and we still get phone books. The problem is that they’re put on every porch by a few guys in a van. Those guys don’t have a list to go off of. They just put one on every doorstep. So even after all those calls, the problem isn’t solved. (I posted this same info awhile back too. Seemed like a great idea. Sigh.)
posted by Wendy on 10-29-2008 at 6:36 pm
yellowpagesgoesgreen dot org
this is an execellent site for discussing and finding opt-out strategies.
I’m pushing for my community to make phone books accessible at various locations like Supermarkets and post offices – rather than be airdropped in front of every doorstep
I received four of them last year, plus some small “pocket” books, none of which I used. Yes I recycle them, but its garbage and litter plain and simple.
Other communities are pushing their city council’s to cite delivery companies against littering and unwanted trash disposal when they plaster homes (sometimes vacant) with the yellow pages, which often just sit there and rot.
Start small with your neighborhood and local leaders. I am and its working…
james…
posted by james on 10-29-2008 at 7:55 pm
Wendy – my parents delivered phone books several times, and there are most definitely extensive lists to follow.
posted by anni on 10-29-2008 at 8:22 pm
“Now, I don’t think the phone book is a bad thing — it’s just something that I don’t need…”
Yeah, until you need to call your ISP to tell them your internet connection is down. ;-)
Seriously, I’m the same way. Not that I don’t like phone books, I just always go the the internet to look up information, first.
posted by John on 10-29-2008 at 11:11 pm
I would be interested to know how many people actually use the phone book…are there people out there lacking the internet??
posted by Jazzy on 10-29-2008 at 11:18 pm
NEWSFLASH FOLKS – WENDY IS RIGHT.
I made the calls and was assured I would “be on the list” and they would pass me by.
But the crew of deliverers are dropped off and they go to every door to drop the books. They do not read a list.
Here in Arizonaa the people hired for this job are usually Latino and may not read English or may not care to bother with the list.
posted by LALALA on 10-30-2008 at 12:29 am
For two years I had to help my brother deliver phone books as a fund raiser for his baseball team. It’s a largely thankless job, and I’m going to guess the “Do Not Deliver” people who still received books probably had a delivery person who just didn’t care. They probably weren’t looking at the list of individual addresses and just delivered to entire blocks.
Although, even when I accidentally bled on one of the phone books from a paper cut, we at least made sure we delivered to the right houses!… because face it, if we deliver one we don’t have to, that’s another book to package up and another one to carry to the door.
posted by Kevin on 10-30-2008 at 3:28 am
Yes, there are people who use the Yellow Pages, in 2007 US consumers referenced the print YP over 13.4 billion times. And those folks use the Internet, too. It’s really not an either or situation, it just depends on where you are and what you need.
Some of your readers aren’t aware, there are still many, many, people without Internet access during the work day (yeah, hard to believe).
Your advice is the best way to stop receiving the books – get in touch with the publishers. There may still be some errors made, but they don’t want to deliver books that are just going to end up in the recycle bin (and yes, do ask why a fully recyclable book isn’t being accepted). Full disclosure, I work for the Yellow Pages Association.
posted by SHobbs on 10-30-2008 at 7:46 am
Maybe put out a sign that says “No Phonebooks” in English and Spanish? I can see why people still need them, but I personally don’t.
To be fair, even though it is obviously a waste of resources in terms of printing, delivering, recycling, etc., the paper companies aren’t exactly wiping out old-growth forests. Lumber companies plant more trees than they cut down.
posted by gibson8or on 10-30-2008 at 12:49 pm
Thanks for the post.
You can also sign do not mail petition (like Do Not Call National Petition)
I did some search online and this is the best resource so far available online (correct me if I am wrong). I have done this 5 months ago and my mailbox is literally empty ( I have paperless billing and also opted out from various mail lists) I check my mail twice a month now. It is beautiful.
I even took the letter from samples provided and wrote it to a local Chinese restaurant that keeps putting fliers in my door. They stopped too in the whole subdivision.
I even opted out from the yellow book. What do I need it for, since the internet is right here.
posted by Maxym on 11-7-2008 at 10:49 pm
The phone book is useful in the same way flashlights are useful: they can be your only way to find information out if you have no Internet (or, more extensively, no power at all). So I keep mine around for emergencies.
posted by Dan on 11-15-2008 at 9:32 pm
I second Dan — phone books are indispensable when the power is out. I also find them useful because I’m too short to reach the ceiling with my step stool (e.g., to change a light bulb). I stack up the phone books to give me an extra boost.
posted by MJ on 11-17-2008 at 12:33 pm
I live in an apartment complex, and we “received” our phonebooks two weeks ago. By received, I mean a stack of books were piled up by our building mailbox and by the landing to the stairs. Only two have been taken so far.
If they’re not gone at the end of this week, I’m thinking about picking all of them up and sending them to the recycling place down the street. Is there any law/ordinance against me doing so? (people’s mail and all that).
posted by AZ on 11-17-2008 at 2:44 pm
I don’t understand how the phone companies get away with leaving 5 pounds of unwanted stuff on people’s doorways. If I ran a ferilizer business, I certainly couldn’t get away with leaving 5 pounds of manure on the front steps of everyone in America without expecting legal action against me…
posted by Trogdor on 11-19-2008 at 12:58 am
Just report them for littering
posted by Jackson on 12-18-2008 at 5:48 pm
Try working at a hotel…we got 600 plus phone books for a 129 room hotel! But the phone book is often like the remote…you can never find it when you need it!
posted by Sugarbee on 2-7-2009 at 2:27 am
Just throw em in trash.. keeps us printers busy…. thank you
posted by mark on 3-7-2009 at 10:22 pm
Maxym: So you are the reason I don’t get coupons for Chinese food anymore.
posted by BetterBob on 3-26-2009 at 1:47 am
Dexknows’ phone directory has one of the worst search engines ever. It’s nearly impossible to find a business listing. So I still use my Qwest paper directories when I can’t track something down another way online (i.e., I find many phone numbers online, but I rarely use Dexknows to find them).
posted by Kittymama on 3-26-2009 at 4:31 pm
Basically, the phone book publishers and the phone companies know there is little leverage an individual has (even if they have requested non delivery. In my neck of the woods the publisher (Dex-Knows) hires third party distributers that hire illigal aliens to run the delivery \milk routes\. The only way to effectivly stop them is to file a legal injuction against the publisher to stop littering on private property.
posted by CorporateBS on 8-2-2009 at 6:53 pm
We have a main front door and another door off the addition between the house and garage, about 10 feet from each other. We often get two copies of the phone book. If they can’t even figure out that it is one house then can you really expect them to read an opt out list.
posted by Lisa on 8-8-2009 at 12:07 am