Phonebooks No More

Did you hear the good news? Here in the Twin Cities, we' re free of the mandatory phonebook delivery! (I'm not sure how widespread this new policy is.)

According to the Star Tribune, a state study last February estimated that 85 percent of phone books in Minnesota are thrown in the trash, rather than recycled or reused. And that's assuming they even needed to be produced in the first place, since quite a number of people (like me) have zero use for them anymore.

To opt out of the phonebook delivery extravaganza:

• Dex: Go to wwwdexknows.com or call 877-2-GET-DEX (ironic to call a number like that to say you don't want to get Dex).
• Yellowbook: Call 800-YB-YELLO (good question).
• Verizon Yellow Pages: Call 800-888-8448.

(In case you didn't know, that's an albatross perched on the phonebook stack.)