A few months ago, I wrote about all the different ways you can eliminate junk mail, but I managed to forget about ways to opt out of the huge phone books that arrive 2-3 times a year (at least at our house.)

Thanks to Google and Switchboard.com, we don’t use our phone books. And I can’t really remember the last time I let my fingers do the walking.

Most of my neighbors must feel the same way, because when the phone books arrived in our front yards last week, no one picked their’s up. Many were left out for several days in the rain.

What a waste — of paper, ink, energy to print and distribute the books, etc.

I’m not the only one who feels this way — there’s a website called YellowPagesGoesGreen.Org that’s dedicated to helping people like me who don’t want to receive a phone book several times a year.

All you have to do is fill out this form. The website will then submit your information to the publishers of the phone books.  Since this isn’t a do not deliver registry, it’s up to the publishers to follow your demands. Hopefully they will.

What do you do if you opt out of receiving a phone book, but then decide you want one?

Just call the publisher and request one. (Or steal one from your neighbor’s yard a few days after delivery!)

What should you do with the umpteen books currently sitting in a closet?

You can recycle them, or using them as packing filler and cushioning. Whenever we’re moving and I run out of newspapers, I just start ripping pages out of  the phone book to wrap around glasses and dishes. It’s worked for us, so far!