Unwanted Phonebooks

By Fredrica Syren:
For lots of people, there is nothing more frustrating than finding those heavy phonebooks sitting on the doorstep. Let’s get real: how long has it been since you’ve used a phone book to look up a phone number? With today’s access to phone numbers (residential or commercial) on the Internet or via IPhones, IPads, Blackberries and computer, phone books are (for most people) unwanted trash.
The worst part is not that they are mostly unwanted but that the negative environmental impact is huge. It is estimated that 650,000 tons of phone books are distributed in the United States each year but that most of them are thrown away as soon as received. Unfortunately, most of them end up in a landfill because only 117,000 tons of phone books are recycled each year.
To produce 650,000 tons of paper for these phone books in the U.S., 5 million trees are cut down, 44.2 billion liters of water are required and lots of greenhouse gasses are emitted each year. Then, delivering the phone books to our doors creates even more impact on our planet.
So, what can you do to stop this waste? To stop receiving phone books go to National Yellow Pages Opt-Out Site and register to stop the delivery of phonebooks to your home. If you still receive them, always make sure to recycle your unwanted phone books. I always like to find creative ways to use unwanted things, so I found 17 creative ways to reuse phone books on care2.com. One idea that I have successfully tried is using the pages to clean windows and mirrors. Another idea I wish I had thought of when we recently moved is using the phone book paper for wrapping glasses and as packing material.