Waters Elementary School in Fond du Lac, Wis. won $500 after collecting 6,170 phone books in the AT&T Real Yellow Pages Phone Book Recycling Challenge. These directories will be recycled by Waste Management into new phone books and other products.
Elementary students in Wisconsin recycled 6,170 phonebooks. Photo: Dailyvida.wordpress.com
But this recycling contest also has a reuse component as AT&T is providing separate phone books for the winners to build a recycled paper castle at Lakeside Park on June 12. The Waters’ students will also receive Project ReDirectory T-shirts.
This is the first year that AT&T has held a phone book recycling contest in Wisconsin and provided students six weeks to collect as many outdated white and yellow pages as possible. In Fond du Lac, 3,677 students participated and were able to collect 10 tons of directories.
“This recycling program adds to AT&T’s numerous local recycling efforts, and we’re happy to come together with Senator Randy Hopper and local community leaders to be part of the Fond du Lac School District’s and Walleye Weekend’s first recycling challenge,” said Stephanie Byrnes, AT&T area market manager.
Phone books are both recyclable and manufactured with a high percentage of recycled content. In addition to making more directories, they can be recycled into insulation, drywall and other products.
Phone Book Opt-Out Program Gives Choice to Consumers
5 Things You Need to Know to Avoid Wasting Phone Books