CD vs. LP: Which is greener?

The website Spinner.com recently put together a list of 10 artists that are going green through different methods, whether it's using more eco-friendly tour vehicles, using recycled materials for CD packaging, or simply singing about and raising awareness of conservation issues. This got me thinking about the different music related things I own that would be considered green. I've blogged about CD cases before, and the different ways in which they are packaged, but I decided to take a closer look.

As you can see, I have a pretty good size CD collection (somewhere in the ballpark of 200 or so, but I haven't counted recently). After browsing through all of them, I could only find one that had any kind of recycled packaging: Potemkin City Limits by Propagandhi (the booklet is printed on 100% post-consumer, recycled paper). This wasn't too surprising, seeing as the Canadian punk band is very active in animal rights and environmental issues. After doing a little research, I discovered the type of plastic that CD cases are made from, polystyrene, is not recyclable, so all of those CDs, when they're thrown away, will just end up in a landfill somewhere. Whether or not you can recycle the paper booklets that come with the CD is a different story, and depends on the kind of paper that it is printed on.

But what about other musical mediums? I also own a few vinyl LPs, thanks to my recent purchase of a record player:

According to The Vinyl Institute, which deals with recycling vinyl products in all forms, anything made of vinyl can be recycled and reused. So, unlike CDs, records don't have to be thrown away. I recently made the decision to start purchasing most of my music in LP form. Not only are more artists (especially those on independent labels) releasing new albums in this tried-and-true format, but the sound quality is in some ways superior to CDs, and thanks to their larger size, LP sleeves often have more artwork and generally give a richer musical experience. Sometimes, they can even be cheaper than CDs. Plus, trying to find rare releases or all of your favorite albums in vinyl format can be a fun challenge for any music collector. So, before you dismiss the vinyl resurgence as just another hipster fad, think about the ways that this versatile format can help the planet.