Recycled phone books to bolster school upgrades

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District has set up collection bins at Costa Mesa schools for residents to drop off their outdated, white-paged phone books for recycling. Sites will be collecting old white pages until Dec. 21.

Participating schools are part of a fundraising effort. Every book collected is worth money given to the school.

Last year the city’s sanitary district awarded $10,912 to Costa Mesa schools. The money funds technology upgrades, additional library materials, science equipment and graduation activities.

The outdated phone books are used to produce next year’s directories and utility bill mailing envelopes.

In 2006, Costa Mesa residents recycled more than 8,932 telephone books, according to a district release.

— Joseph Serna