Another phone book, the Valley Yellow Pages, is scheduled to be delivered to homes and businesses throughout Santa Cruz County in late September, the third set of phone books delivered this year.
The AT&T Yellow Pages comes out in April, and Yellowbook is delivered in July.
In recent years, phonebooks have become somewhat obsolete, and publishers realize that not all residents want or use the books that are offered. Each company maintains a “do not deliver” list, which they adhere to. The companies are also members of the national Yellow Pages Association, which operates www.yellowpagesoptout.com, a website that allows businesses and households to opt out of receiving phone books or, conversely, order more copies.
In addition, each of the phone books has a toll-free number that allows the user to opt out.
**YellowBook: 800-929-3556
**Valley Yellow Pages: 800-350-8887
**AT&T Yellow Pages: 866-329-7118
The Yellow Pages Association has environmental guidelines and encourages the use of online directories and minimization of paper waste. The publishers, however, do deliver to front porches, and along rural roads the books are often placed next to mailboxes.
To address concerns of the county of Santa Cruz Department of Public Works that unwanted phonebooks could become roadside litter, the three publishers also conduct a sweep through each rural delivery area to pick up unclaimed books a few days after delivery.
Residents may call public works at 454-2160 to report their experiences. In addition, unwanted phonebooks are accepted in all curbside recycling programs in the county. If books are delivered in plastic, they need to be taken out of the bag before being placed in the blue recycling cart. The plastic bags can be recycled if stuffed into and bundled with other plastic bags.
