What’s that on my doorstep?

I stopped by my house for lunch today, and I found this waiting for me:

I approached my doorstep with a little trepidation because I wasn’t expecting any packages, especially any that would come in a plastic bag. Turns out the bag was just filled with two new phone books. I’ve only lived in Raleigh for three months, and I’ve already received two deliveries of phone books. Seems a little excessive to me. Do people really use phone books anymore, what with the Internet and all?

What’s worse, is it turns out I can’t just dump my old phone books in with my weekly recycling. The News & Observer reports that it’s OK to put the old books recycling bins if you live in Durham or Orange counties, but not if you live in Raleigh or Cary:

That’s because taking phone books in the curbside bins usually results in less revenue from a town’s recycling processor, according to Linda Leighton, waste reduction specialist with the City of Raleigh. The books have to be picked out of the bins by hand so they don’t mix with other paper goods. And they’re hardly worth the trouble.

Luckily, if you live in Raleigh or Cary you can still recycle your phone books. You just have to drop them off at one of these approved locations.

So do you ever flip through the phone book anymore? Does it annoy you that they’re automatically dumped at your doorstep?

13 Responses to “What’s that on my doorstep?”
With the advent of this new internet thing I haven’t opened one of those dang phonebooks in a few years. Luckily, I live in good old durham so I recycled mine.

By Adam Covati on Feb 28, 2008
I have an unusually big collection of phone books because we don’t know what to do with them. I’ll check the approved locations. I got one from Verizon, Bellsouth, and some other company. I only use the phone book at work and I perfer BellSouth, but now we use the internet or 1-800-FREE-411 (you have to listen to Ads so pay attention because they’ll ask you to type in some number for ad texts.) to look up a location.

By Brandy on Feb 28, 2008
http://www.wakegov.com/recycling/residents/recycle/telephonebook.htm

BTW, Your url has too many “http://’s” in them.

By Brandy on Feb 28, 2008
Maybe once or twice a year I pull the little-sized one out of the drawer when I’m in a rush and don’t feel like turning on the PC. Our books are dropped at the central mail area in my townhome community, so we get to pick which ones we want to take home or decline them all.

By JM on Feb 28, 2008
Just another reason why Durham rocks.

By Ginny on Feb 28, 2008
Thanks for the tip about that phone number. I’ll have to give it a whirl.

By Ginny on Feb 28, 2008
Thanks for pointing it out, I fixed it :o)

By Ginny on Feb 28, 2008
That’s the way to do it, let people decide if they want/need a book or not.

By Ginny on Feb 28, 2008
OH MY GOD! I seriously just wrote a paper about this for a class. I was also annoyed about getting 7+ phone books within the span of 2 or 3 months! As soon as I decided to get rid of them all in favor of trusty Google, I was without internet for a week and had no means of getting phone numbers I needed! The most recent delivery was dual: a normal sized one and a mini sized one - with exactly the same contents. Decided to keep the little one. But it makes me wonder. Is this cost-effective for these companies? They have to know that most of these are thrown out. And how can there be a competing market? I mean I probably got 4 different companies’ phone books. Anyway, phone books are crazy. Glad I’m not alone in this frustration though.

By Alisa on Feb 28, 2008
I get them constantly, and I never use them. Noone does. They sit on the front steps forever. I hate how I was doing nothing, asking for nothing, and now I have to find a way to recycle them. What a hassle! I’ve ended up throwing quite a few away.

By Abby on Feb 28, 2008
Yes, I hate getting them, too! I get at least two a year, and I don’t even have a land line! I NEVER use a phone for anything. Like I’m really going to use AAA Taxi Service or A++ Laser Eye Surgery. I do like opening a newspaper or a magazine or a book, but a phone directory is precisely the bloated printed material that the internet can best eliminate. It is nice that, in Durham, you can just toss them in the recycling bin. But, like with any junk mail, I hate having to throw someone else’s garbage away.

By Toastie on Feb 28, 2008
I just wrote a nastygram to AT&T!!!! We moved in October and are up to 6 or so books. Ahhh! Why would they do this?

By emily on Feb 29, 2008
I just got an Chatham county phone book this week. I live in Orange County. Everyone in the neighborhood appears to have received one.

By Robert P. on Mar 2, 2008