Perhaps you were one of the billions of fans who helped country and crossover sensation Taylor Swift win “Album of the Year” at the 2010 Grammy Awards by purchasing her album “Fearless.” When you were downloading the Mp3s or having her CD rung up at your neighborhood store, did you ever give thought to what way of listening to music – CD, vinyl or MP3 – is the best option for the environment?
Other individuals have actually pondered this very question. In the summer of 2009, researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory prepared a report for Microsoft and Intel that added up the greenhouse gas emissions and energy usage associated with downloading albums and buying CDs at the store. It seems MP3s are the greener way to go.
With the CD-making process, energy goes into producing the plastic CD, jewel casing, paper liner notes, and then shipping the finished products to the stores for purchase. There’s also the energy needed to power the stores in which the CDs are on display. With MP3 digital files, energy is used by the rooms full of servers and network equipment that power the Internet. Plus, you have to consider the electricity used by your home computer when downloading the music.
According to the study, downloading an album of 60 to 100 megabytes uses an estimated 7 megajoules of energy and produces 400 grams of carbon dioxide. Burn that album onto a blank CD, and the figure increases to roughly 12 megajoules and 700 grams; put that CD in a jewel case, and the figures go up even further, to 23 megajoules and 1,100 grams. No hard data has been derived to study the impact of producing the Mp3 players or computers necessary to play digital files, however.
The majority of the impact of purchasing a tangible CD comes from the energy incurred driving over to buy the item. If you were to bike or walk to the store instead, the energy impact would be less.
No thorough research into vinyl records, popular in decades past and experiencing a resurgence among music aficionados in recent years, has been made. However, environmentalists estimate that modest packaging (cardboard sleeves) makes vinyl a little better than jewel cases. However, the albums are made on polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is generally frowned upon in green circles.
The conclusion is that downloaded digital files are generally better for the environment than other methods of enjoying tunes. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up your love of CDs or vinyl. Just be sure to properly dispose of old albums, recycle, or trade with friends when it’s time to move on.
