Phone books, like tube TVs, are starting to disappear from hotel rooms.

Omni Hotels, citing environmental concerns, announced Wednesday it will eliminate phone books in its 45 hotels. The current stock of 30,000 phone books will be recycled, the Irving, Texas-based company says.

"We found that that no one uses them anymore," says spokeswoman Caryn Kboudi. "They just collect dust and take up drawer space."

While the vast majority of hotels in the U.S. continue to stock phone books, Omni joins a number of hotel chains eliminating them to cut down on paper waste and room clutter. Hyatt Hotels, Hyatt Place, Kimpton Hotels, and several chains operated by Starwood Hotels — Westin, Sheraton, Aloft and Element — no longer put phone books in the rooms (although they're available at the front desks).

Hilton and InterContinental Hotels' Indigo have dropped phone books as "a brand standard" (an item that must be stocked), and left up the decision to individual hotel owners.

Omni's Kboudi says travelers mostly use their laptop computers' online access or smartphones such as BlackBerry to obtain local information. Omni offers free WiFi in its rooms for loyalty program members ($9.95 a day for others) and for all guests in the lobby.

Along with the Bible, phone books have been staples at hotels for years. But citing environmental and cost concerns, the industry has been more aggressive about eliminating certain items and services that may not be needed daily, if at all. Many hotels change bed sheets daily only on request. Logo towels, shoehorns and toilet seat sanitation bands have largely disappeared.

Stephanie Hobbs of the Yellow Pages Association says the move will upset many guests. "You have to ask what your customers want, not what's easier for hotels," she says, adding that phone books are referenced 13.4 billion times a year in the U.S. "Sometimes, it's much quicker than logging on and doing the search online."

Frequent traveler Richard Leck, owner of a consulting firm in Bedford, N.H., agrees. "Many hotels still charge $9.95 to $14.95 per day for Internet access, and if your computer is shut down and the line is long at the concierge, phone books are the best, quick tool."

But Richard Hofrichter, an executive at a tax services firm in Atlanta, uses the wireless Internet on his cell phone to search for local information when he travels:

"I don't ever use phone books."