Is iTunes Eco-Friendly?
April 15, 2009 by Jennifer
I’ve been thinking about this title question a lot lately. Mainly because since I got iTunes, I rarely listen to my CDs.
Music overall is not that eco-friendly. Sure you’ve got bands like Cake using solar power to create music, which is a step in the right direction, and you’ve got recycling resources for used music. For example, you can recycle old discs or make them into something new, and vinyl records can be made into multiple items like dishes and art. Although, keep in mind that relatively few people recycle their music properly.
That said, vinyls are made of PVC and new ones come wrapped in icky plastic. Old cassette tapes are virtually non-recyclable due to their mixed content, so you have to find other uses for them or most will end up in landfills. Plus what about all those 8-tracks that went the way of the landfill, not to mention concerts, paper ticket stubs, and so on. No doubt about it, music creates a ton of waste.
Benefits of digital music:
Can be used on your computer, with or without any additional accessories. That’s pretty eco-friendly. If you make discs of the music, you can recycle those later – you just need to find a disc recycling center near you. If you put your tunes on an MP3 player, that can also be donated or recycled later on. Plus in the grand scheme of things, an MP3 player is comprised of far fewer materials than a big record player or huge tape playing beat box (yes they still exist).
Still, some people really like music in other forms. For example, while I could live without CDs, I’m a total vinyl addict. Later on this week, I’ll try to post some tips that can help you keep your music addiction at least a little greener.
For now though, tell me: How do you listen to music? Do you think things like MP3s and digital music are changing the face of green living?
[image via stock.xchng]
i use itunes, ipod and cd’s that i’ve had for years. i really don’t buy many cd’s anymore simply because of the economy and i can’t afford them. i do download, but the problem is that so often we download from p2p sources, so the musicians, who live off of our purchases don’t get support from their fans. What really should happen is a big push of digital downloading from sites where the musician will get the support from their fans as they do from cd purchases. That would save a ton of plastic and paper and all the other stuff that goes into cd making. However, that would also cause the loss of factory jobs where the cd’s are actually made. Really i think it’s a catch-22.
I use itunes & my ipod for all of my music now. My girls both have mp3 players as well. If we aren’t using that, then we are listening straight from the computer. Haven’t bought a cd in years.
@Kitten – loss of jobs is a major catch-22 for many green issues. So many products made are not eco-friendly. It is a hard balance. I agree about the downloading from sites that support artists too.
@Ginny – I don’t think I’ve bought a CD for years either. Although, I might soon. One issue with digital music is that it’s not all available. Like I own all the Beatles on LP, but it’s a lot of trouble to transfer that to disc, then to my iTunes. And the Beatles aren’t available on any digital music sites I know of. To me, although I do love digital music for the most part, this is one downside.