“Upwards of 50% of plastic produced is single use. As only 9% of plastic produced has been recycled, most plastic accumulates in our landfills and oceans for multiple centuries.”
– Plastic Reimagined, Inspired by Nature blog post
The toughest thing about coming up with plastic-free merch alternatives is making a choice to change. It's all about culture. If each one of us decides to use fewer single-use plastic products, our world will be in a better place. But it's hard to change the culture. We must take a moment and think about how we can do things better.
As a musician, I pinpointed one major problem with my industry–shrink-wrapped CDs. That's something I can do something about. I researched CD printers in Atlanta that can print short-run CDs without the plastic wrap. The next step is to start printing CDs there.
Is there anything I can do about the CDs that currently have shrink wrap?
The first thought that comes to mind is stripping the CDs of plastic right now. I can take it to be recycled and hopefully improve the odds it doesn't end up in the landfill…
I have been looking for compostable alternatives like those mentioned in the blog post above. They're “bottling” water in a seaweed packaging. But is there a seaweed-type packaging that I can wrap my CDs in?
I haven't found it yet.
The other plastic issue I realize I need to change is my shipping containers. I have a box of bubble wrapped mailing envelopes in my attic. I'll be shipping most of my Come Adventure With Me Kickstarter products using those envelopes, since it's already a sunk cost.
Now, where can I buy compostable shipping envelopes?
It's another thing for me to research. Fortunately, I'm willing to do it. Because the first step to making the music business more sustainable is to start thinking about what kind of change we can make.
The next step is being willing to make a change. It's to realize that we can do things differently. We just need to figure out how. So that is what I will continue to do.
Post your comments below or drop me an email.
