Letter: Be free from all those unwanted phonebooks

EDITOR,
Each year, the San Lorenzo Valley receives at least three phone books dropped off at our mailboxes from April through September. I believe Scotts Valley receives two phone book versions. AT&T sells your phone number to the other companies, which then go out and sell advertising to create three more versions.
Our local recycling centers report that they handle thousands of unwanted and unnecessary phonebooks per year. The paper from which the books are made is hard to recycle, and the ink is toxic. The best we can hope for is that they end up being recycled. The worst is that they end up in our streams. Far too many end up in our landfills.
SLV and SV residents have a choice as to whether they want to continue to get these books dropped off at their mailboxes each year. The only way to stop their arrival is to call each company and request that you not be delivered their book — a somewhat time-consuming project, but well worth the effort.
The phone numbers to stop deliveries are as follows:
• AT&T, delivered in April: 866-329-7118
• Verizon (Los Gatos), delivered in June: 800-888-8448
• Santa Cruz Yellow Book, delivered in July: 800-929-3556
• Santa Cruz Yellow Pages, delivered in September: 800-350-8887