Well who’d have thought that my little rant on Day 203 would get such a reaction. Luckily that means we have had some very helpful readers comment with some useful information on how we can combat the waste of unwanted phone books. Some had the details we need to cancel delivery so we avoid receiving them in the future and others had some novel approaches on other uses for them. Di in particular was being very resourceful and cheeky at the same time.
I know quite of lot of my readers also read the comments so have probably already read this information but I know I don’t always follow through that well with the blogs I read (simply because I don’t have the time) so I have put it to the front as today’s post in case anyone missed it.
Here are some reader responses
Rachel
For Canceling phone book delivery in the US……(copied from the Yellow Pages website)
visit http://www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org to opt out of unsolicited phone book deliveries.
YellowPagesGoesGreen.org hopes to have 1 million people signed up to opt out of unsolicited phone book delivery by the end of the year. You can help them reach that goal by encouraging your friends and family to sign up.
I had just managed to find this site myself when Rachels response came through. Thank you Rachel this is particularly helpful.
Loretta (from Australia)
I just cancelled my Yellow and White Pages this week!
Call 1800 008 292, and they will do it, no problems.
This is an Australian 1800 number and won’t work anywhere else.
This one was particularly useful to me because I also live in Australia
Reggie
Hey Colleen… Hm, maybe you can use old phone books to feed your fire place if you have one? I also know some people who use the pages in the phone book to put into their mulch. I don’t know too much about landscaping but it’s just an option! If I think of any other ideas, I’ll let you know.
I suggested to Reggie that the pages could also be used under mulch to act as a weed mat. I know I could use a little help with weeds. To bad clover and dandelion aren’t good in a salad otherwise I could start a cottage garden business at the moment.
Di
We recently returned from a trip through South Dakota and on a very beautiful country road with no people or cars in sight for miles around was a small rest area under some trees with an outhouse. It contained a roll of very soft TP and also a large phone book that showed obvious use hanging from a chain. Just an alternative to sending it out for recycling. lol
Di you are such a funny one. I am all for protecting the environment but I am not sure I am prepared to go that far.
Rebecca the Greeniac
I canceled ours about a year ago. There was some little hidden link on the Qwest Dex website that let me do it online. Now we just get a little door hanger saying “are you SURE you don’t want phone books?†that goes on and on about how they’re made from recycled paper yada yada yada…
It was this hint from Rebecca that had me searching for the information that Rachel also came up with.
What would I do without my wonderful readers and the helpful information they have to share with us all. Thank you again everyone who contributed. We have all learned a new way to pre-empt the necessity to recycle phone books. One less thing to declutter every year.
ITEM 205 OF 365 LESS THINGS
This was one of those impulse buys of my daughter that has sat unused in a drawer for years. It going to the thrift store with a bunch of other stuff next week. Hopefully someone will find it useful.
I am not prepared to go that far either in my home, Colleen, so just now I contacted two of the phone book companies in my area and opted out. Such a simple, easy solution, and I feel so good about it. Thank you, Colleen and Rachel, for the yellow pages link. I might try using the books I currently have as a weed mat under mulch. This works for newspapers as well.
Hi Di,
good for you, that’t one more small step to a better world.
Hi Crystal Apple,
Willow suggested using them as booster seats too. I suppose I am just too far from my kids being that age and not at the stage where I have grandchildren yet so I missed the true value of that suggestion. Your other use in the horse pasture sounds very unique too. Who knew how useful phone books really are.
Hi Willow.
I am going to google for edible uses for dandelion soon and see if I can make use of them.
But dandelion leaves ARE good in salads! Best before blooming. 🙂 I’ve never tried clover, but the horses love it! I’d be game to try them. 😉
Phonebook: I use it as a booster seat for the kids. It gets demolished by the time a new one arrives. The remains of the demolished one gets put through the shredder and then put in the mud in the horses’ pasture — absorbs moisture/reduces mud.
Yes, dandelions ARE good to eat as are nasturiums blossoms. Have I eaten them? Yes on the nasturiums and no on the dandelions. But if Ray Bradbury is to be believed, dandelion wine is great.
Crystal Apple’s comment about the phonebook reminds me of a Reader’s Digest story about the the city family who went to visit their country cousins. When the child needed a booster chair, the city mom suggested using the phonebook (ours in LA was 2″+ thick), the country hostess looked at her strangely but reached over and placed her little town’s 1/2 ” thick phone book on the child’s chair. 🙂
Another use for old phone books and magazines…use them as “drop cloths” when working on crafts – just turn the page/s when you need a fresh page to paint or glue something else.
Hi Shelley,
thanks for joining us with your comment you are most welcome here at 365lessthings. I could certainly use that tip as I do my fair share of craft and my son is an art student. I will keep that in mind for other useless paper that turns up at my house too.