Download Music and Forego the Plastic Packaging

I added another way (#13) to reduce plastic use to my current list: Download your music rather than buying it in a plastic jewel case. I have an iPod and it is very easy to download tunes to your computer and from there to your iPod or other MP3 player. It is almost too easy! I do not know why it took me so long to try it. Downloading an album is cheaper that buying at a retail store also. It costs about $9.00 per album.

When my husband and I traveled by car on vacation, the trip each way was about 20 hours. We depended on our iPod to pass the time and to entertain us. Unfortunately, my 8 year old iPod died on the return trip. It made a horrible scraping noise and got really hot. We are fairly certain that the hard drive had given up the ghost. Since we were to be on the road for 2 more days, we decided to stop in Santa Fe and buy a new one. Once we got home I checked the web to see how to dispose of a dead iPod. There are sites that will pay you for your old MP3 player. They even send you a box to mail it to them. They then evaluate it and send you a check. You can also donate your old cell phone, PDA, digital camera, or iPod to be recycled to benefit a charity.

The Apple website has an impressive report on the environmental impact of all their products. They describe what is behind their environmental footprint. For example, the manufacturing process produces 38% of their carbon emissions. They explain how they deal with each step from extraction of raw materials to product assembly. Transportation (5%), product use (53%), recycling (1%), and facilities (3%) are explained also. I am usually rather quick to suspect corporate greenwashing , but I have to admit that I was impressed with Apple’s attitude regarding their impact on the environment. Apple will take all brands of electronics for recycling. You can take it to an Apple store or mail it to them. Whatever you decide to do just do not send your old electronics to the landfill.