I know Earth Day is in April but I thought it would be good to write a post about some ideas for musicians to help the environment. Of course all the standards apply. Recycle your bottles and cans, conserve energy, drive fuel efficient cars, but I thought it would be cool if there were some more specific ideas as they apply to musicians.
Strings
As a guitar player, I go through a lot of strings. With multiple guitars the waste generated by restringing can be hefty. There are the strings themselves, the paper pouches, and the plastic pouch the whole set comes in.
To alleviate this, I have been using D’Addario Strings. They have reduced their packaging and use a new process to produce Clean Wire for their strings. The elimination of individual string envelopes and the plastic pouch reduce the waste per string change.
Batteries
Most musicians take pedals to a gig. Many of us have large pedal boards with multiple pedals. I know that a lot of you are already using a pedal power or a One spot to power your rigs. For those of you that aren’t, this is a good place to start being a greener musician. If you must use batteries, use rechargeable batteries. You’ll get many gigs out of them which saves you cash as well as being eco friendly.
Now if you still must use an old fashioned alkaline battery because your Fuzz pedal just doesn’t sound right otherwise, please recycle the used batteries (this goes for dead rechargeable batteries as well) The RBRC has programs with many retailers for in-store battery drop off. Sears, Home Depot, Office Max, Radio Shack and many other are participating in the in-store battery recycling program.
CD’s
We all have stacks of CD’s that we no longer listen too. Maybe your band burned a bunch of demo’s that you are no longer giving out. Maybe you have bad CD’s that never go finalized before they error out in the burning process. Maybe you just want to get rid of that Milli Vanilli CD. Don’t throw them away, recycle them. The material in CD’s can be recycled and turned into new products.
Gigs
A five piece band all driving to the same place in five different cars is just wasting gas. Try carpooling with one of your bandmates. If you’re the singer this is a no brainer (unless you haul the PA). Most bands I know don’t bring a ton of gear to a gig so you could probably get the guitar players rig and the keyboard in the same car.
This last idea is not mine. I found it on one of the DIY sites I frequent. The CFL Fuzz is a fuzz pedal made from the components found in a household compact fluorescent bulb. Now this only uses the electronic parts so the bulb itself (the part that contains the mercury) will need to be recycled.
I’m sure there are many other ways for all of us musicians to be more eco friendly. I encourage everyone to think outside the box and see what we can come up with.
Scott
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