| Dear
EarthTalk: What’s going on in the music
industry with all the CDs and plastic CD holders undoubtedly
generating a lot of plastic waste?
-- John S., via email
| |
CDs
and DVDs are made with a combination of various metals,
petroleum-derived plastics, lacquers and dyes and
as a result are almost impossible to recycle. When
discarded, they can pollute groundwater and contribute
to a whole host of human health problems.
© Getty Images |
According
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), CDs and
DVDs are typically manufactured by combining various mined
metals (aluminum, gold, silver and nickel) with petroleum-derived
plastics, lacquers and dyes. Given what complicated beasts
CDs and DVDs are—products with thin layers of different
materials mixed together are nearly impossible to recycle—most
municipal recycling program won’t accept them, leaving
consumers to fend for themselves in figuring out how to
dispose of them. As a result, most discarded discs end up
in the trash.
These
difficult-to-recycle materials can pollute groundwater and,
in turn, contribute to a whole host of human health problems.
But the low cost of producing such top-selling consumer
items means that replacing them with something greener is
not likely anytime soon.
Research
has shown that polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic-substitute
derived from corn and other agricultural wastes, could replace
plastic polycarbonate as a disc’s main substrate,
but the present high cost of using such a material makes
it unlikely to catch on any time soon with those paying
to produce mass volumes of CDs and DVDs.
As
for jewel cases, most are made out of Polyvinyl Chloride
(PVC), an inexpensive petrochemical-based plastic that is
notoriously difficult to recycle and has been linked to
elevated cancer rates among workers and neighbors where
it’s manufactured. Furthermore, when PVC is thrown
in with regular recyclables it can contaminate entire batches,
ruin equipment and cause human health problems. While cardboard
and paper jewel cases may be all the rage among a few record
labels—Warner Music Group’s U.S. division, for
example, has been using 30 percent post-recycled paper for
the packaging in all of its CDs and DVDs since 2005—the
high cost and low durability of such alternatives have kept
them largely out of the mainstream.
So
what’s a conscientious consumer to do? Those willing
to pay a small processing fee can send old CDs and DVDs
to one of a handful of private companies (such as Washington-based
GreenDisk) set up to recycle them into high-quality plastics
used in auto parts, office equipment, alarm panels, street
lights, electrical cable insulation, jewel cases and other
specialized items.
A
shift in consumer preferences already underway may be just
the thing that will make everyone’s personal collections
of music and movies greener. Consumers are already able
to download some six million individual digital songs via
the 500 or so legal online music services now up and running
on the Internet. According to the International Federation
of the Phonographic Industry, digital sales now account
for some 30 percent of all U.S. music sales and 15 percent
globally. And most consumer analysts expect these percentages
to grow steadily in the coming years, which is good news
for the environment.
CONTACTS:
EPA’s
“Lifecycle of a CD or DVD”; GreenDisk;
International
Federation of the Phonographic Industry.
Dear
EarthTalk: What are the major environmental
issues that our next president, be it Obama or McCain, will
have to confront?
-- Melinda Barnes, via e-mail
| |
Global
warming is the biggest issue facing our next president.
Both Barack Obama and John McCain are committed to
tackling climate change, although their proposed approaches
differ in significant ways.
© Getty Images |
Global warming
is unquestionably the most pressing environmental issue
facing whoever ends up in the White House in January 2009.
Not only does climate change impact—and in most cases
exacerbate—other environmental problems, it has even
wider implications for the economy and society at large.
Luckily for all of us, both Barack Obama and John McCain
are committed to tackling climate change, although their
proposed approaches differ in significant ways.
The non-profit
League of Conservation Voters (LCV), America’s leading
voice for environmental advocacy within electoral politics,
would prefer to see Obama elected president given his environmental
track record and plans for the future. While both candidates
favor instituting a mandatory “cap-and-trade”
program (whereby the federal government allows polluters
to trade for the right to emit a reduced overall amount
of greenhouse gases), Obama is for more strident cuts. He
would like to see the U.S. reduce its greenhouse gas emissions
by some 80 percent by 2050, while McCain supports only cutting
back by 65 percent. Both candidates have authored legislation
in the Senate designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
although no such bills have come close to passing.
Even though McCain
is by far the most forward-thinking of the original Republican
presidential contenders on global warming and the need to
take action, LCV still gives him poor marks, only a 24 rating
(out of 100) lifetime and zero for 2007. LCV says that McCain
missed all 15 critical environmental votes last year and
that he “repeatedly clings to outdated policies and
flip-flops on core environmental issues.” By comparison,
Obama earned a score of 67 in 2007, because he missed four
votes due to campaigning (his 2006 score was 100), and has
a lifetime LCV rating of 86.
One area where
environmentalists take issue with McCain is his support
for expanding the role of nuclear power in cutting fossil
fuel use. Obama would rather bolster alternative energy
sources like wind and solar power that do not have the nasty
side effect of radioactive waste in need of storage and
disposal. (McCain also supports the development of new renewables,
but not to the extent that Obama is willing to commit).
Some of the other
hot button environmental issues sure to occupy the next
president’s time include: how to best protect the
nation’s water resources and wetlands; whether to
allow more drilling for oil and natural gas both offshore
and within Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge;
whether to reinstate the Roadless Area Conservation Rule,
a Clinton-era law (subsequently overturned by the Bush administration)
calling for protection of some 58 million acres of public
land from logging; how to meet U.S. commitments on existing
environmental laws in international trade agreements; and
whether to bring back the so-called “polluter pays”
part of the government’s “Superfund” toxic
waste clean-up program.
While Obama is
clearly the greener candidate on most of these issues, the
fact that McCain even takes them seriously—and is
committed to any greenhouse gas reductions whatsoever—is
a plus for environmental advocates exasperated by eight
years of green naysaying by the Bush administration.
CONTACTS:
Obama
’08; McCain
for President; League
of Conservation Voters. |
