Opt Out of Phone Book Deliveries

When was the last time that you actually flipped open a paper phone book to look up a number or an address? If you, like most folks, use online directories, then opt-out of receiving phone books this year.

You may have seen the article in today's Star-Tribune about 'opting out' of receiving phone books. This is a simple way to reduce the amount of needless paper waste, resources used in producing phone books. According to the article, 75% of phone books are simply thrown in the trash, even though they are recyclable! Yikes.

The online comments to the Strib article indicate that signing up to opt out is not always successful, but it's worth a try! Plus, think of the drawer/shelf space you'll free up by not having to store the phone books. Regardless of whether you opt-out of receiving new phone books, don't forget to recycle your current phone books when they are out-of-date. If you live in Minneapolis, simply place them on top of your recycling bin on your regular recycling day and the city of Minneapolis will pick them up. (Check with your recycling hauler or city if you live elsewhere.)

There are multiple publishers of phone directories. Click here to opt-out of Dex directories. For other directories, you'll have to call to opt-out. For Yellowbook, call 1-800-YB-YELLO. For Verizon Yellow Pages (Idearc), call 1-800-888-8448.