There's something about a vinyl record that has mystique. A tactile essence. It comes in a envelope that can be framed as art, or tucked into a bookcase smoothly. It exudes a certain sex appeal that draws a following.
A CD, on the other hand? There's nothing nostalgic about this flimsy, silver disc. It scratches easily. Its home is usually a pile on your stereo, an ugly binder or a dusty plastic coffin stacked in equally ugly CD shelving that takes up way too much room.
And all that packaging, plastic, and transportation...well, clearly the carbon footprint is huge. Unless you are handy enough to whip your CDs into a solar cooker or a bumper for your bike, you are probably tossing the whole mess out just after burning it onto your computer.
Clearly, like the VHS tape, the CD's days are numbered. Yet they are still lingering and generating tremendous amounts of waste.
And, as my friend Wyndham Wallace recently pointed out in a revealing article for the Quiteus about music piracy, the hard evidence from The New York Times shows people are still buying CDs.
Music piracy, of course, despite being illegal, is rather green. In his article, Wyndham asks the question, "If illegal downloading is killing music, why don't record labels just let us buy it earlier?" He also states that one of the reasons the music is even available is due to the music industry itself:
Ironically the very record labels that threaten to sue file sharers are indirectly responsible for most of the leaks. To whip potential buyers into a frenzy they make vast quantities of advance CDs available to media, often encouraging websites to upload tracks as part of 'viral' marketing campaigns. This increasingly desperate desire to see tastemakers champion releases has led to sites satisfying the frustration labels carelessly provoke in consumers by making whole albums available, justifying this as the product of their enthusiasm, normally adding the proviso that we should buy the music we like as soon as we can.
Similarly, the CD is lingering because of the music industry. There's big incentive to soak up profits from that paper cover, plastic case, and fragile compact disc, to keep the ball of supply and demand rolling. And the availability of digital files is difficult to control. But clearly, when it comes to the CD, we don't need them any more. What we need is an option catering to those of us who need to walk into a music store browse the racks.
So how about this: You bring in your flash stick, and walk out with all the digital files in your hand at a fraction of the price. And we do away with the CD.
The CD is dead. It's just time for the record labels to end the racket.
More From TreeHugger and Planet Green on CDs
VHS Tapes and CDs Take Final Bows...No Encore.
What To Do...with Old CDs
Build a Solar Cooker From Old CDs
More From Mairi Beautyman on Huffington Post
Creators of the Hydrogen 'Urban Car' Attempt to Crush Hydrogen Car Challenges
Germans and Their Scornful View of Tap Water
Could You Live Without a Refrigerator?
The Octuplets and their Massive Carbon Footprint: 30,400 Disposable Diapers and Counting