The Digital Age

Digital-age allows us to store and distribute volumes of music not only instantaneously but also inexpensively as it doesn't rely on physical materials but computer-programming. This ability modified the way we buy and listen to music as internet music-download sites are as abundant as ever and seems as if everyone has an MP3 player ear-phone stuck in their ears. Home music-systems also turned digital as the vast libraries of our musical-tastes do not rely on shelf-space anymore but our ability to organize the digital files.

Why are we mentioning this here, in this site? Because music does relate to sustainability. The Environmental Protection Agency has created a great poster for kids in the life-cycle of a CD or DVD in which it illustrates all of what is included from beginning to end in that musical journey.

So now that we're in the digital age and people are buying less CD's at the store is a good thing right? Sort of. Digital Europe, a European research study, in 2003 studied the environmental differences once we moved into this virtual-industry. The CDs took manufacturing but so do MP3 players and computers to listen on. As it turns out, it IS more friendly to download music so long as we don't convert them back into CD's once in our possession (about 3 times worse environmentally than if we would have bought the CD in the store in the first place).

Apple computers, creator of the iPOD, is one of only a handful of companies that promotes recycling of their products with a free "takeback" recycling service offered when first purchased. The amount that this service is used and the other billions of non-apple gadgets that do not have a home once not-needed is the big question.

So, our musical-gadgets are becoming more feature packed and smaller, companies are manufacturing them with ever-more environmentally friendly products, and our musical libraries will be bigger and bigger. What we need to do from the consumer standpoint is see how we use it and act accordingly. Buying as few times as possible is key to longevity and cost savings, and recycling when we need to is key to global sustainability.

We will not recommend a television for you, sorry. That's based on how you use it, your room size, and everything in between which many other sites do a splendid job in covering. What we will say about televisions is that they are NOT created equal in how much electricity they use (on or off). Yes, you heard right, even while the TV is off (or in standby mode), it's drawing electricity. From standard to high definition, conveniences built into the television use power whether we like it or not, wether we use it or not.

Cnet.com, a computer and electronics review site, did a comparison of 80 current model High Definition television sets in how much power they consume (on and off) and the numbers on some sets are staggering! After viewing the numbers and looking at the type of television, we walk away thinking "I thought all LCDs were the best in power usage?" Turns out the features and brand make a big difference. These differences add up to hundreds if not thousands of dollars extra in electricity usage over the life of the TV.

So the sticker-price of the TV at the store is not really the whole picture (pun intended). It's similar to buying a cell-phone and paying for a subscription once a month. The difference is that we know about the cell-phone subscription fees when we buy it, but we don't account for it on the television sets (or many of the other electronic gadgets we buy).

Besides the fact that we're spending money even when we don't want to, why is this important? Well, aside from the obvious environmental impact, our conscious awareness and choices we make based on what we know forces the manufacturers to take into account reducing waste. If a meat company produces tainted meat, we will stop buying that brand for our health's sake. This is oddly similar in that we can stop buying a brand or type based on the lack of care in the life-cycle costs of a product.

We just touched on the power usage as it relates to life-cycle costs. We understand that there are other costs associated which are not as obvious or measurable, such as actual manufacturing processes, parts used, labor-laws breached, packaging waste, and pure and simple ethics. There are websites out there that attempt to cover this (Gooshing based in UK) but we have not verified its authenticity as to how it measures (or what it believes is more important) in rating a product. But, the fact that there are sites out there attempting to measure this and all the other knowledge that you already have, your purchasing choice does make the companies accountable on all fronts.

Dell computer put together a small list of tips to consider when buying and using a computer at home and at the office. Laptop and computer parts are something else to consider which reduce the power consumption even more. From Hybrid hard-drives (partial flash memory) to full Solid State hard drives which uses no moving parts whatsoever. Not to get into the technology aspect of this, we'll just state that new studies indicate that there is no significant savings of battery life or increase in speed. The lack of moving parts simply adds a level of safety in case of impact. The cost difference is significant at this point so it may not be a viable option for most just yet.

We talked about power and speed, what about the computers themselves. Desktop computers can contain 4-8 pounds of lead making up 2/5 of all lead in landfills. This is part of something greater called "eWaste" and with that computer parts themselves are starting to become more self-conscious. Our awareness of the systems put into place to create something better gives us opportunities to demand something better. It's a wonderful self-perpetuating bettering of our society - let's make it grow!