Time to Get Rid of Your Book?

Here’s one thing you won’t find in the Yellow Pages: how to get rid of an old phone book. Between phone companies and their commercial competitors, Los Angeles households get up to six new books a year dumped on their doorsteps--and that means an estimated 3 billion pounds of books are hitting the country’s landfills.

“It’s so annoying,” says Judy Carter, editor of Earth Newsletter. She says she returns unrequested directories by mail with a “nice note.”

Other solutions:

* Watch for periodic recycling drives. Both GTE and Pacific Bell sponsor joint efforts.

* Check in at your city hall. Burbank is one of the few cities that accepts phone books at curbside and drop-off centers. (Los Angeles does not).

* Scout for permanent drop-off bins. The Chatsworth Chamber of Commerce’s recycling center at the Great Western Parking Lot, 19850 Plummer St., includes one bin for telephone books.

* Use directories around the house for doorstops, book ends and improvised high chairs. They’re also good for pressing flowers and stacking stereo speakers.

* Tear out the pages and use for packing material or bird cage bottoms.