Countywide : Telephone Books a Recycling Target

Thursday is the last day for recycling telephone books at drop-off centers in the county.

For the third year, the county is holding a telephone book recycling program scheduled for the same time that local telephone companies deliver new directories, said David Goldstein, a county waste management official.

Officials estimate that Ventura County residents discard 463,000 telephone directories each year. Recycling the books would save an estimated 15,742 trees, plus 6.5 million gallons of water and 351,880 gallons of oil used in the manufacturing process, officials said.

About 5,500 directories, or 11 tons, were recycled last year, Goldstein said.

All 10 cities and several unincorporated areas are participating with Pacific Bell and local garbage haulers in the program. Residents who have a recycling pickup service at their homes should put the phone books with their other recyclables. Businesses and other residents can take their phone books to any of the drop-off points in the county.

For locations of drop-off points, call the nearest city hall or the Ventura County Solid Waste Management Department at 654-2889.