Find a new use for your old phone books -- use them to make money.
As Internet search engines increase in popularity, telephone books are becoming a thing of the past. It's no wonder, since in addition to being limited to your local area, phone books are bulky and often contain outdated contact information. Rather than throwing them away, do good for the environment and your bank account by recycling your old phone books.
Instructions
1. Collect telephone books from family and friends. The more you have, the more money you can make by recycling them.
2. Remove all extra materials from the phone books, such as promotional magnets, plastics and the putty-like adhesive used to attach these items. These materials can make the phone book unfit for recycling because they contaminate the paper batch at the recycling plant.
3. Open an account with RecycleBank, a company that gives you reward points for recycling. More than 2,400 retailers accept RecycleBank points on purchases.
4. Deposit the phone books in your RecycleBank bin. You can recycle up to 180 pounds of materials per month in the company's Home Recycling program and you will receive 2.5 points for each pound.
5. Check your RecycleBank account for rewards points after the bin pickup. Click the "Get Rewards" link to find retailers that will redeem your points.
6. Use remaining telephone books to make paper crafts such as origami and paper mache items. Sell them through a website such as Etsy, ArtFire or Zibbet.
