Sprint helping get rid of old phone books

Sprint Yellow Pages, in cooperation with the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, is helping two worthwhile causes at the same time.

Many people in the past have thrown away their used telephone books upon receiving the current ones. This year, Las Vegas residents were encouraged to take their old phone books to the Sprint Store, 2340 E. Tropicana Ave., Saturdays. Sprint donated $1,000 to Recycle for Literacy for every half-ton of directories collected, up to $3,000.

Phone books tend to weigh around six pounds, and are extremely expensive to throw away, so recycling would conserve resources considerably.

"The United States uses 100 million tons of paper a year and the use is increasing. Furthermore, one ton of recycled paper saves 4,200 kilowatt-hours of electricity, 7,000 gallons of water, 100 gallons of gasoline and 60 pounds of air pollution from being released," said Detra Page, media relations manager for Sprint.

Republic Waste Management will be responsible for the actual recycling bins and collection of the directories.

"If your Sprint Yellow Pages has anything but the No. 45 Sprint car on the front cover then it's time to recycle it," Page said.

Sprint also provided other locations for people who find it inconvenient to visit the East Tropicana Avenue location.

"We understand that everyone wishing to recycle their phone books may not be available on Saturday. Sprint phone books may also be dropped off at any Las Vegas-Clark County library now through mid-August," Page said.

With 15 percent of Nevada residents currently at the lowest income level, programs like Recycle for Literacy are a necessary measure. The money raised through this program will fund basic literacy programs, including GED preparation.

Sprint is also taking strides nationally to increase literacy among adults.

"Through similar recycling programs nationwide, Sprint Yellow Pages expects to donate up to $50,000 to adult literacy efforts this year," Page said.