PALMER -- Got a minute? Great, try ripping a few phone books into sections a half-inch thick.
Terry Koch, marketing director for Valley Community for Recycling Solutions, said volunteers at the nonprofit have spent every spare minute this past month shredding phone books by the dozens.
"There were just piles and piles. We couldn't get caught up," Koch said. "People would laugh about it and say 'Hey, I'm improving my arms!' "
Finally, it looks like the end is in sight. A forklift driver Wednesday loaded up a semi trailer with five and a half tons of phone books, what Koch hopes will be the last load.
A total of nine tons of phone books, mostly new, were shipped from the recycling center this year. About 12 more tons dropped off by recyclers were shredded, baled and shipped as mixed paper, with cereal boxes and catalogs. The loose books don't hold together in a bale for shipping unless they're ripped apart, Koch said.
The books, both shredded and new, will soon be loaded onto a barge bound for Tacoma, Wash., where Valley Community for Recycling Solutions markets its recycled goods.
The nonprofit gets paid for the books -- about $45 for a bale of mixed paper or $20 for a one-ton pallet full of shrink-wrapped and unopened books. But according to Koch, the price doesn't offset the cost of processing them, even when volunteer labor is used.
"Really, it's just enough to keep them out of the landfill," she said.
Six full pallets of phone books in Wednesday's load were from GCI. They were still in shrink-wrap, having traveled from Canada to Alaska and now bound for Washington without ever being touched by Alaskan hands.
"These are coming from the post office," Koch said. "It's just sad. It seems all of it is being wasted."
Koch called GCI the Valley's worst phone-book offender. That might be because the company is the only one sending its unused books directly to Valley Community for Recycling.
GCI spokesman David Morris said he couldn't say exactly how many directories his company ships to Mat-Su. The company has about 220,000 customers in Kenai, Anchorage and the Valley, he said. One phone book is shipped per household, and more are delivered to businesses.
MTA also ships its books through the post office after receiving them from printers in either Illinois or Canada. But it doesn't print nearly as many books as its competitor. Spokeswoman Jackie Kenshalo said MTA's take this year was 55,000 books -- enough for each of its roughly 40,000 members with extra for businesses.
The way phone companies handle leftover books varies. Morris said GCI elected to have unused books left at post offices delivered for recycling.
Matanuska Telephone Association brings what's left back to its warehouse to hand out throughout the year, said Kenshalo.
Books are recycled through Smurfit-Stone in Anchorage.
Both Kenshalo and Morris were apologetic about the overload. They're two of six companies delivering phone directories in Mat-Su, according to a survey Kenshalo provided.
"We do respect the fact that too many phone books is not necessary," Kenshalo said.
Morris said that like other print industries, phone books might be a dying business, but it still brings in money. Alaska businesses spend between $30 and $35 million in advertising revenue for yellow pages ads each year, he said. GCI and MTA each get a share of that.
Until that business model changes -- maybe when someone develops a way to create user-friendly directories for cell phones and personal data devices, yellow pages are a sign of spring that's here to stay. "It's the circle of life, just like salmon," Morris said.
Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.
YOU CAN HELP
• Unload your books: Drop unwanted phone books off at Valley Community for Recycling Solutions at the corner of N. 49th State St. and Palmer-Wasilla Highway or take them to an Matanuska Telephone Association or GCI office.
• VCRS hours are 12-6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays. (It will be closed July 5.) Their Web site is www.valleyrecycling.org.
• Want to kick the phone book habit? Use MTA or GCI's online yellow pages, at www.mtadirectory.com or www.gcidirectory.com, respectively. Both companies also offer listings on CD at their offices.
