Over 660,000 tons of phone books enter the waste stream annually. Only 20% get recycled. Nearly 70% of adults in the U.S. "rarely or never" use the phone book.

If you are tired of getting tons of junk mail in your mailbox and would like to save trees, reduce the waste that goes into our landfills and care about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there is a way you can make a difference.

Catalog Choice is the largest independent mail preference registry in the United States. When you sign up, it's FREE and you get to opt-out of receiving all forms of advertising mail and unwanted phone book deliveries. The great thing about Catalog Choice is that with a database of more than 5,500 titles (and increasing daily) that you choose what you want to opt-out of receiving. Under the Fair Information Practice (FTC), your information will also be kept private and be protected.

     For 10 years Tim Kilcoyne served as Executive Chef and Owner of the popular SideCar Restaurant located on Main Street in Ventura. 

     "It was a lease issue," said Chef Tim when asked about the recent closing of SideCar Restaurant. "However, we were already doing quite a bit of catering, so it was a natural progression for the business to go 'from roots to wheels.'"

      These days, Chef Tim and his staff can be found aboard "Scratch," a Ventura county-based gourmet food truck  that lives up to its name. "We prepare all our food with fresh and natural ingredients everyday, literally from scratch. We make our home at various locales around the area providing 'take-out' and providing catering for events and groups," added Chef Tim.

      Chef Tim is also a big believer of "buying local" and works with the Ventura Meat Company, which provides Scratch with high quality grass-fed beef. Scratch also buys direct from local farmers, food stands, and certified farmer's markets.  READ MORE.