Keep getting phone books delivered to your door? Here’s how you can opt-out

It’s safe to say that at one point or another we’ve ended up with a phone book on our front door step, but some people now say they’re ending up with not just 1 or 2, but 3, 4, even 5 of them at their door.

“I think it’s ridiculous and a waste of a tree,” said Palm Springs resident Dawn Smoley, as she picked up several phone books Wednesday morning left in front of the car garages around her complex.

“The last time they were dropped off at the door, well now they’re doing it in front of the garage, they don’t even take the time to run up to the doors,” she said.

Smoley says the books only end up in the trash or recycling bin. “Personally, I don’t even look at a phone book anymore, the print is too small and I can just look online and find anything i want,” she said.

But her biggest concern? It’s the phone books piling up in front of her neighbors doorstep, a possible invite for potential thieves looking for vacant homes.

“Books just sit out there in front of the door and makes it look like nobody is there,” Smoley said.

There is a way to stop these phone books from being delivered to your doorstep. Just head to www.yellowpagesoptout.com and enter your zip code. It’ll show the phone books delivered in your area. You’ll have to create a user name and password, but it may be a small step, compared to several trips to the recycling center.

To opt-out of the Verizon phone book by phone, call 1-877-2-GET-DEX (877-243-8339)

Smoley thinks it should be the other way around, and people should rather have the option to opt-in, if they want a phone book.

For business owners, some say advertising in a phone book is also a waste. Owner of Bobby’s Cafe & Grill along Highway 111 in Palm Desert, Nick Liosis says he thought it was a good idea at first.

“It was something that I was still a little old school about,” he said, “We’ve been open for just over two years and I haven’t heard anybody anybody in 2 years say that they found me out of the phone book,” he said.

He also says he paid $1,500 to advertise and would never do it again.

“It’s just a changing environment out there with media, social media, now everything is just internet hits,” he said.