vinyl and film - what a waste

[user237428934]

Did that provocative title bring you here? It's not what you think. It's about the waste that comes with vinyl and film.

I don't have any vinyl store or supply for film and chemicals in the typical shopping distance. The last shop that sold vinyl threw them out a couple of months ago and now has more room for blue rays.

As most people here, I order the stuff online and it comes with the postal service.



This is the amount of cardboard waste from 3 orders of 12 vinyl records in the last weeks. They even split one order into two parcels that came the same day. It's nice that they sent it in a very safe way but sometimes those big boxes are half empty. It's the same with one shop I buy film and chemicals. Huge boxes, filled mostly with padding.

It's not only the aspect of using more paper resources than needed. I'm obviously not the only person ordering via postal service. So many people have to get rid of their cardboard waste but the infrastructure for that is so limited. Quite often the containers for the paper waste are full. Even throwing this stuff away is a logistical challenge. :bang:

Let's leave the quality away but is streaming of music more environmental friendly? Huge servers and networks. So much energy needed. I don't know.

I definitely like the handling and sound of vinyl.

 

[gnuyork]

ooh. That is a shame. I find packaging on most products to be wasteful.

I try to buy most of my vinyl from local shops, but I have ordered from Ebay for certain titles I couldn't find locally.

Enjoy your tunes in analog - the best way 😉

 

[Brian Legge]

Nice setup!

My wife has wanted a turntable for a while. She's been buying records without an ability to play them for at least two years. I picked up a Pro-ject Debut Carbon DC and Sonos Play:5 for speakers (i.e. play records or stream MP3s from her phone). I set it up while she was out of town and was blown away by th sound quality. I'll b in trouble with her for spending that much but I think she'll get good use out of it.

 

[johannielscom]

More waste from cardboard and online purchasing, than from streaming etc?

I wouldn't know, Tom. IMHO the best thing is to wonder what's really necessary to purchase and own and what's not. And be a bit strict with one self in answering the question.

Because I have found out that only owning what's essential to who you are is what makes you soar like an eagle😉, while owning loads of less necessary or even unnecessary stuff sooner or later pins you down.

Your vinyl set-up looks pretty essential to me though 🙂

 

[Steve M.]

All things are impermanent, but that doesn't mean what we think it means. If the cardboard ends up in a land fill it breaks down quickly, returns to it's basic chemical elements, the rain allows it to be drawn into the roots of nearby trees and vegetation for sustenance, and it is reborn as another tree.

There is no waste in the universe. It is impossible for matter to be created or destroyed, it is simply changed into different forms. All the atoms that ever existed still exist, and will till the end of time (no one knows if such a thing actually exists). It's called the cycle of life. There can never be waste as energy is simply turned into different forms of energy. All of us, the tree, the sky, the cat, the termite, the clouds, will exist forever, just in different forms, and those forms are not fixed, they are ever-changing. Change is the only constant.

 

[dtcls100]

I tend to reuse the boxes and packing material from my orders. For example, I just reused some box materials and packing material to ship off some camera stuff for repair. I have reused boxes and packing materials to ship off camera gear that I've sold as well. I don't keep all the boxes, only those are of a size likely to be used. I do tend to keep all of the bubble wrap and padding material, as I always reuse the stuff.

 

[vladimir]

Cardboard packaging seems at times excessive, but it obviously protects goods in transport. Here in Sydney we have a recycling bins and in our household we recycle as much as we can to help the environment. Surely you have something similar in your country so it should not be much of a problem.

 

[user237428934]

Cardboard packaging seems at times excessive, but it obviously protects goods in transport. Here in Sydney we have a recycling bins and in our household we recycle as much as we can to help the environment. Surely you have something similar in your country so it should not be much of a problem.

We have a small paper waste container at the apartment house, that is meant for newspapers and a small amount of cardboard waste. 10 Minutes with the car we have a bunch of bigger containers for glass and paper but even there it happens regularly that the containers are full and you have to take the stuff back home again. A few years ago there were not so many containers and it was more likely to find them empty. This means that in the last years the amount of paper waste that has a potential of being recycled increased a lot and that the whole recycling chain is either not prepared for the increase or they simply didn't react yet (empty them more often or set up even more containers).

 

[user237428934]

Your vinyl set-up looks pretty essential to me though 🙂

I think it looks more Xpressionistic 🙂 Got it as a showcase product for a really good price.

 

[user237428934]

All things are impermanent, but that doesn't mean what we think it means. If the cardboard ends up in a land fill it breaks down quickly, returns to it's basic chemical elements, the rain allows it to be drawn into the roots of nearby trees and vegetation for sustenance, and it is reborn as another tree.

There is no waste in the universe. It is impossible for matter to be created or destroyed, it is simply changed into different forms. All the atoms that ever existed still exist, and will till the end of time (no one knows if such a thing actually exists). It's called the cycle of life. There can never be waste as energy is simply turned into different forms of energy. All of us, the tree, the sky, the cat, the termite, the clouds, will exist forever, just in different forms, and those forms are not fixed, they are ever-changing. Change is the only constant.

Too bad we don't have access to the whole universe to get our energy back 🙂 When we produce paper we need ressources and energy for that. After that the resources are gone and the energy is out of our reach. We need that perpetuum mobile fast.

 

[daveleo]

I am a cardboard junkie/horder.
I save boxes for shipping stuff, and cut up boxes for the pieces. Cardboard boxes and pieces are useful around the basement, garage and shed. I do recycle some, but mostly I save the flattened boxes.

 

[Pherdinand]

All things are impermanent, but that doesn't mean what we think it means. If the cardboard ends up in a land fill it breaks down quickly, returns to it's basic chemical elements, the rain allows it to be drawn into the roots of nearby trees and vegetation for sustenance, and it is reborn as another tree.

There is no waste in the universe. It is impossible for matter to be created or destroyed, it is simply changed into different forms. All the atoms that ever existed still exist, and will till the end of time (no one knows if such a thing actually exists). It's called the cycle of life. There can never be waste as energy is simply turned into different forms of energy. All of us, the tree, the sky, the cat, the termite, the clouds, will exist forever, just in different forms, and those forms are not fixed, they are ever-changing. Change is the only constant.

wow that was just so effing deep😀
Merry Christmas dude (forever!)

 

[Pherdinand]

We have a small paper waste container at the apartment house, that is meant for newspapers and a small amount of cardboard waste. 10 Minutes with the car we have a bunch of bigger containers for glass and paper but even there it happens regularly that the containers are full and you have to take the stuff back home again. A few years ago there were not so many containers and it was more likely to find them empty. This means that in the last years the amount of paper waste that has a potential of being recycled increased a lot and that the whole recycling chain is either not prepared for the increase or they simply didn't react yet (empty them more often or set up even more containers).

no- it could also mean, that more people are consciously trying to recycle, instead of dumping everything into one big waste container.

Possibly it's a combination of the two🙂

 

[Tim Murphy]

You are not alone!

You are not alone!

Dear tom,

I hear you loud and clear. For me it's not just the cardboard but the packing and padding materials that get me. I greatly appreciate when items I purchased arrive undamaged, but filling 75% of the box with those plastic airbags or worse yet Styrofoam peanuts drives me crazy.

I buy quite a bit on-line and I save boxes for re-use as storage or to ship items I've sold. When the cardboard stock in my garage gets unbearable I can flatten them out and bind them with twine for curbside recycling pick-up.

I have saved enough padding materials to ship a disassembled Boeing 747 as parts but they still keep piling up with everything I receive and I've yet to find a good way to dispose of, or re-use, all of them?

Regards,

Tim Murphy
Harrisburg, PA 🙂

 

[Dogman]

Get a good sharp knife, keep it sharpened and cut up the cardboard for recycling. The airbags can be recycled too. Those peanuts are sometimes not really made of styrofoam but of another foam-like substance that can be recycled. Of course, what materials can be recycled depends on the local recycler.

And bubble wrap is always handy to keep on hand in case you have to ship out your equipment for repairs.

Personally, I like it when someone packs items securely.

 

[bobbyrab]

While I'm no authority on recycling, I do know there was a study carried out that showed home deliveries are a much more efficient and greener way of distributing goods than by each of us visiting shops by car or public transport. Likely also that your 20 minute round trip by car to the recycling centre is much more damaging than any benefit recycling cardboard will bring.

 

[Talus]

+1. I think it's better to have it delivered vs driving around to multiple stores over a day to find things.

 

[unixrevolution]

Here in backwards, anachronistic America, I can put my cardboard and other recyclables in a huge bin the County gives us. They pick it up from the curb, and it all gets recycled. No charge, except for our taxes.

 

[benlees]

Funny, I just sold my record player. I actually prefer digital nowadays. Not having to get up to flip the record actually enhances my listening pleasure, especially with the trend of 180gr with the requisite 2 records instead of one, even if the recording is less than 45min. But I'm going through a "Sell it all!" phase...

Now I have to get a bunch of cardboard so i can sell the rest of my records. 🙂

 

[daveleo]

What kills me is the short life of paper bags.
Their useful time (carting groceries from store to home) is about 0.01% of their existence. Then they get transported, shredded and reformed into another bag. Seems like an extravagent process for a short simple task. (Bringing home the groceries.)