Tracking disc-risk realities

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 concerts rider and decided to telecommute to your appearance on “Conan” to avoid emissions-heavy plane rides. You can ply your new double-LP masterpiece with environmental impunity, right? Wrong! Vinyl LPs are made with PVC plastic, packed with dioxin, phthalates, lead and other fun ingredients that can cause cancer, birth defects and respiratory problems, among a host of ailments. They’re also nigh impossible to recycle and take centuries to biodegrade.

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. Is putting your music on a warm, crackling LP of pristine sound quality worth pitching more particularly toxic plastic in the world?

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-- August Brown