Unwanted Yellow Pages or Household Items? Ridgefield Offers Ways to Cut the Clutter

RIDGEFIELD, CT — If you're a parent or caregiver, this time of year is one for piles and piles of paperwork. From athletic forms to fill out, picture order forms, news and information, it can be daunting. Fortunately, many of Ridgefield Public Schools' forms can be filled out online, however many times our mailboxes and even yards can be littered with unwanted paper.

If you've recently received a Yellow Pages telephone book then you know it's one more item to add to the shred or burn pile. Each year the phone books industry uses up an estimated 4.68 million trees worth of wood fiber, or 14 football fields’ worth of forest per day, according to Yellow Pages Opt Out's website. The process of printing and delivering the unwanted phone book to your doorstep (or yard) produces greenhouse gases equal to burning 8.8 pounds of coal, the company said. Directories are a burden on local governments, who pay nearly $60 million annually in recycling and disposal fees for unwanted phone books, Yellow Pages Opt Out said in a statement.

The Town of Ridgefield is joining forces with the Product Stewardship Institute to raise awareness about this important environmental issue and to encourage people to opt out of phone book deliveries. Opting out is free, fast, and easy—and it makes a huge impact.

Here are some more ways you can help to cut the clutter and stay organized in your Ridgefield home. Click the links below for more information.

• Tired of Receiving Unsolicited Phone Books? Opt Out of Phone Book Delivery Today!

• Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day Sat 9/24/16 9-2pm 53 Newtown Rd, Danbury

• Shred-it behind KWilliams Realty~404 Main St Sat 9/10/16 9am-12pm

Do you have ideas on how your family stays organized? Email wendy.mitchell@patch.com or tell us in the comments.

Photo by Frank Hebbert via Flickr Creative Commons