Music Discussions

Many people are becoming more environmentally conscious, but no one wants to give up something that they enjoy. The following ten tips will hopefully assist those who want to be more green lessen their impact on the earth and may even lessen their spending.

1. If your portable music player uses replaceable batteries – such as personal cassette players, personal CD players, and some MP3/OGG players – use rechargeable batteries. This will save on pollution from production of batteries, packaging, and shipping.
2. Buy your rechargeable batteries in bulk. Buying in bulk saves on packaging and pollution based on running to the store more often.
3. Recycle your batteries when they will no longer hold a charge; many locales require this anyway, but even where battery recycling is not required, it is still a wise idea. A number of the elements in rechargeable batteries are toxic and could end up in ground water if thrown away; also, these elements may be resued in new batteries which can lessen the impact of mining.
4. If your player uses NiCd or NiMH batteries, make sure that you completely run them down at least once every five uses. Both of these types of batteries develop a “memory” which will cause them to no longe fully recharge unless they are completely drained periodically; Li-ion batteries do not have this issue. This should greatly extend the life you your batteries saving on pacakging, pollution due to transportation, and your costs for replacements.
5. If your music playing device has an embedded battery, see if the manufacturer will replace the battery. Many manufacturers will replace the battery for a small fee which will allow you to continue using a device that you are familiar with and reduces the demand for production of new devices.
6. If the manufacturer of your music player will not replace the battery, recycle the player. There are many companies that recycle used electronic to keep them out of the environment and reuse many of the parts. In fact there are probably a couple of these facilities in your area. If you are in the United States, the National Center for Electronics Recycling should help you find a nearby location.
7. Purchase used CDs instead of new ones. This saves on packaging and, if you buy locally instead of over the Internet, saves shipping. Check out my tips for buying used CDs.
8. If you do order your used CDs online and order more than one at once, try to order them all from the same seller. This can cut down on packaging if the seller wraps them all together and will likely save you shipping costs.
9. Even better. Purchase digital music online through stores such as iTunes, Magnatune, or Jamendo. Or, listen to music online through services such as Y!Music (formerly Launch), imeem, Deezer, or Last.fm. Digital music has absolutely no packaging and incurs no pollution due to shipping on its way to you.(provide links)
10. When going to concerts that friends are also attending, car pool!

Hopefully, you have found these suggestions helpful. Some of them are pretty obvious, while others may not have been readily apparent to many. I doubt anyone will follow all of these suggestions even if they could; some individuals use devices with embedded batteries and cannot replace them, others want to only buy new CDs so that it registers as a sale and encourages the group to make more music, while others do not like purchasing digital music because of the lack of something tangible or the DRM that some providers feel they need to attach to their downloads (provide link to EFF). Even if well all implement a couple of these suggestions with regards to our music listening habits, the world will be a cleaner place.

If you have any tips that you would like to share or have found any of these tips useful, please feel free to share.