The 'innocent-looking' telephone directory has been the target of the ire of US environmentalists. Recently, they had much to cheer about when the city council of Santa Monica, California, passed a resolution banning the clearcutting of temperate rainforests. The resolution was in response to concerns over the logging of old.growth rain-forests for the supply of paper pulp to produce telephone directories. The council has asked buyers of temperate forest wood pulp to adopt ecologically.sustainable practices. Alternatives to the conventional telephone directory include the use of tree-free paper made from agricultural waste and electronic phone books.

The resolution was introduced following the lobbying by non-governmental organisations like the Rainforest Action Network, Natural Resource Defense Council and Greenpeace.