Opting out probably wouldn’t work for me, my rural mailbox sits next to 5 others, there are going to be a pile of books out there no matter what I do. Then at my post office box there will be a few hundred piled up down there, they just leave enough for every box on a counter-top. It’s wasteful I agree, many of those at the post office won’t be claimed. What compounds the waste is the independent phone book companies, plus these small format extra ones that have much of the same information as the big one.

Our recycling center (where we take our garbage) always has a huge dumpster each year devoted to recycling phone books, that really gives you an idea of the magnitude of the waste.

Soooo much faster than online – at least in our little area.
And who wants to wait 3-5 minutes for the computer to come on and be ready for a search for a phone #??? Not me. About 5 -10 seconds with the phone book.

Plus, I keep one in each rig – sure cheaper than directory assistance on a cell phone – also has addresses – also has the yellow pages by subject which often times comes in handy.

You get one for each land line in your home – supposedly.
So you don’t have to run from room to room to grab a phone #.