Shockingly, 30 billion Compact Disc’s (CDs) and Digital Video Disc’s (DVDs) are created every year; many of them only to end up as landfill. The CD Recycling Center of America says it is time we recycled them instead!
Here’s the problem – it takes oil to produce plastics. CDs and DVDs are not recyclable because all products such as compact discs, videotapes, and computer discs are made from mixed materials which cannot be recycled unless first disassembled.
Retail companies across the United States are sending their products to special recyclers like CD Recycling Center of America. Another recycler to consider is GreenDisk, a group which record companies send their unsold product to. GreenDisk is focused on rewriting and reusing previously used disks before complete recycling is necessary.
This creative approach definitely helps to reduce the billions of CDs and DVDs which end up wasted. Imagine 30 billion CDs/DVDs stacked on top of each other and how much space that must take up if the discs were in a landfill.
What’s happening to the CDs and DVDs from the 1980’s which are no longer "current”? What happens to all that packaging – from the CD jacket to the cardboard and ink fillers? My guess is they are tossed out. If we continue to produce the number of CDs and DVDs we have in the past, there is a potential for trillions of these products to end up clogging our landfills.
Before you throw out a CD or DVD see if your local library or a community organization will take it first. Contact the above recycling centers. Better yet, find a creative craft you can do like the above CD fish made out of an old disc.
Think before you throw things in the landfill – make a difference today!
Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com
They make great disco balls! (Cut them into squares and then hot glue them onto a sphere.)
Posted by: CJStewart | September 04, 2009 at 10:17 PM