Downloading Music is Green

Digital music downloads (of the legal variety, of course), are convenient and cheap, and if you've got a broadband Internet connection they take no time at all. The latest block-rocking beats, coming straight from the computer, are also less harmful to the environment than compact discs.

CDs are made primarily from polycarbonate, an oil derivative. The discs and their packaging can contain aluminum, acrylics, gold, chemical dyes, glass, silver, and nickel. Then there's all the transportation involved in getting the disc to stores, and to you. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), roughly 100,000 pounds of CDs (PDF) become obsolete every month. That's a lot of material waste that could be avoided if more people bought their music online.

To go a little greener: Take stock of your peripherals. Portable music players require either recharging or a steady supply of fresh batteries. If you already have a player, use solar power to recharge or switch the batteries to rechargeables. Avoid getting a new player unless your old one is actually broken. Apple takes back iPods, and some consumer electronics stores will take back devices, regardless of the manufacturer. You can give away or sell old cassette tapes, vinyl records, and CDs in their jewel cases. In addition, companies like GreenDisk accept a wide range of techno-trash, including tapes, and recycle all of it.

Keep in mind that burning downloaded music onto a CD can be even worse than buying the CD new in the first place. So if you want to share your music with friends, you can pass around a flash drive, email the audio files, or turn up the speakers. Even better, pick up a musical instrument.