Vinyl nerds, you’re killing the Earth

So, you're in a band that just plowed a few grand into retrofitting your tour van to run on vegetable oil, requested all-recycled paper plates on your rider and decided to telecommute to your appearance on Conan to avoid emissions-heavy plane rides. You can now ply your new double-vinyl LP masterpiece with environmental impunity, right? Fail! Vinyl LPs are made with PVC plastic, which is packed with dioxin, phthalates, lead and other fun ingredients that can cause cancer, birth defects and respiratory problems, among a whole host of ailments. They're also nigh impossible to recycle and, like all plastic, take centuries upon centuries to biodegrade.

Unless you're eating your 7-inches, you probably don't have anything to worry about in the short term as far has health problems, so file this as a kindly public service announcement. And browsing the vintage LP racks is obviously a neutral activity. But you can add hot-pressed wax to the growing list of things that bands should avoid if they're really serious about their ecological impact. A better solution is digipacks made from recycled materials, or to release albums as digital files that need no fuel to distribute them to stores. But let's pose this question to you devoted vinyl vermin out there: Is putting your music on a warm, crackling LP of pristine sound quality worth the fact that you're pitching more particularly toxic plastic in the world? Discuss below.

-- August Brown

Photo: Wax Poetics

Comments

[Frank Bullitt]

In fact, old vinyl can actually be recycled into making new records...

[sam k.]

Don't forget the plastic wrapping on both cds and vinyl.

[Casey Dolan -- LA Times]

Good point, August. It's toxic stuff. As the owner (and certifiable vinyl nerd) of 7,000 LPs currently taking up space in my garage, I am loathe to take on more. But the industry has to take up the challenge and improve digital fidelity so it can match what so many of us love about the old medium. No, it's not worth it for a new band to release on vinyl, but who said CDs are environmentally friendly? (Album pictured, by the way, is an excellent one from 1955 with Damiron, Don Elliott, Tony Martinez, Noro Morales, Perez Prado, Al Romero, and their orchestras. Great party music).

[Joe Bonus]

You are wasting your time worrying about toxic plastic from vinyl records? Gimme a break.

[jon lee]

I agree with August's sentiment that new music should be put out with as little environmental impact as possible. If you love vinyl, buy USED records. You can find them very inexpensively at a lot of second hand stores and you are literally recycling, rather than contributing more potential waste (albeit sweet sounding waste) to the planet.