New Uses for Old Phone Books
- by Lisa Hoover on Oct 10th 2007 12:00PM
- Filed under kids, miscellaneous, art, staying green
Even though it's easy to look up local phone numbers online, sometimes it's just as quick to check a dead-tree version of the phone book. It seems like I get a new version of my neighborhood Yellow Pages every month, so I guess a lot of people are still using them. Updated phone books are great to have on hand, but what do you do with the old ones?
In the last year, I've acquired enough to start a small landfill of my own, so here's what I do with the leftovers:
1) Whenever I get new books, I toss the old ones in the trunk or under the front seat of my car. When I'm out and about looking for the nearest frame shop, or some other obscure business I don't patronize very often, I just grab the Yellow Pages and find what I need.
2) Old phone books are great for spontaneous art projects with my kids. There are hundreds of pictures, logos and drawings they can cut out and glue onto construction paper.
3) I use the books to help my children learn to look up words and practice finding things from alphabetical lists. I give my youngest son easy words to look up (dog sitter, school supplies), while I challenge my older boys to find harder things like lava lamp repair, or the corporate phone number of the local grocery store chain.
4) Artist Robert Truscio came up with a way to turn old phone books into flip books. Though I haven't tried this yet, it's on my list of things to do.
5) Of course, the most popular use for old phone books is still as an impromptu booster seat for kids!
If you'd simply prefer to get rid of the darn things, check with your local waste collection service, because not all will collect them for recycling. If yours doesn't, the local phone company should be able to tell you the best way to discard them in your area.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-15-2007 @ 2:45PM
Dave said...
I don't mind the new book every 3 months but why can't they number or letter them and on the new book tell you the numbers or letters on the old book to discard, I just throw the old books on the road
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10-15-2007 @ 2:48PM
scotty said...
the pages are great for cleaning windows. the leave no lint or streaks.
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10-15-2007 @ 3:15PM
Kimberley said...
I use the old phone books as an inexpensive toy for my parrots. They love to tear it apart. Keeps them busy for hours.
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10-15-2007 @ 3:31PM
Kim said...
I use the pages of my old phone books to clean windows and mirrors. Works great!
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10-15-2007 @ 4:00PM
G. said...
I contacted my phone company and asked them to stop sending the %$^#@ things- Save a coupla trees!
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10-15-2007 @ 4:11PM
Kelly said...
I have heard that some people who sit at desks, maybe like judges or something, can use them under the desk to help increase protection. Of course, I'm not saying they'll make your desk bullet proof, but I've heard that it could add some cushioned protection from something like, say, stray bullets shot into a courtroom or something. Not sure, just repeating what I've heard....
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10-15-2007 @ 4:18PM
Michele said...
I keep an old phone book in my camper and out in my shed. It makes great fire starter for campfires, we have a pit in the back yard too. Keeps all the paper nice and tidy, no more newspapers scattered around.
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10-15-2007 @ 4:36PM
jo said...
I take the old book roll it,c tape it with paking tape, and use them to keep my leather boots from bending. You can do the same with the Sunday paper.
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10-15-2007 @ 4:38PM
Terri said...
Old phone books are great when you are training a new pet and they make a mistake on the floor. Its thin enough to tell what you are picking up but thick enough to keep what you are picking up from soaking through until you get it to a trash container and it does not cost a thing unlike tissues, paper towels or toilet tissue.
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10-15-2007 @ 4:51PM
Geordy said...
I !use them to defrost the freezer
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10-15-2007 @ 4:54PM
Mel said...
Using Duct Tape, secure two of the big books together. Take measurements of this and add about 1/2 inch on all sides and cut out those measurements out of heavy fabric, or lined vinyl. Sew up the sides, leaving one of the big sides open and insert the books. Stuff the excess room inside with padding material or pillow and hand stitch the last opening, and Voile'! you have a cheap, portable booster seat.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:15PM
Diana said...
I'm from a small town area, and we get a updated phone bokk every few months, I keep them through the year, and around Christmas time, the grandkids and I sit around the kitchen table and make the old phone books into little christmas trees. Its a fun project, the kids love it, and the result is a handmade early christmas gift for a teacher, or principal, or bus driver, or favorite relative...anyone LOL
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10-15-2007 @ 5:25PM
Carol Yow said...
I went to vacation Bible school when I was young and we made door stops out of old phone books. Take each page and half it, crease. Continue til all pages are half the size. Can be a time consuming project for a child and useful when finished.
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10-15-2007 @ 5:29PM
thunter said...
i uses it in de outhouse no sears cataloc
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10-15-2007 @ 5:29PM
Pam said...
I take pages from the old phone book and run them through the paper shredder. It makes great packing material for fragile objects and is a "green" alternative to styrofoam peanuts.
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10-15-2007 @ 6:07PM
Pura said...
Phone books should not be dropped on your door, you should get them ONLY if you ordered one, I have received 4 huge phone books from two different companies this year and I have recycled them both, i go to the internet to search for anything I need, Phone books in my house and many others are nothing but a waste.
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10-15-2007 @ 6:18PM
Tim said...
I take the pages off one ata time and crumple them to make packing material for mailing items. I sell lots of glass items online and have never had one damaged.
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10-15-2007 @ 6:46PM
Gid said...
I give my old phone books to grade school teachers. When I was a kid, in class around the holidays, the teachers would ask us to bring in old telephone books for a project. We would then fold each page from the top at the seam down toward the middle. When complete, it makes a big fat Christmas Tree shape. Then we spray painted them green, white, gold or silver - whatever. Then added various embellishments - tree toppers, etc. Keeps kids occupied for a while, that's for sure!
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10-15-2007 @ 6:48PM
NIA said...
Crumple the pages and.....
Window/mirror wipers- good.
Kindling fire starters- good.
RECYCLE.... very good.
Just take a razer and run down the spine a few times. It's easy to rip those suckers apart so that they are no thicker than a magazine - put them in the recycle bin, along with newspapers and magazines.
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10-15-2007 @ 7:02PM
Margaret said...
To Kimberley with the Parrot who shreds the printed material....
Please do not do this. The chemicals in the ink is being injested by the bird. You are going to make the bird ill and it could even die.
You would not let a child eat printed material - same goes for animals and birds.
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